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When  I  Went  West, 


FROM   THE    BAD    LANDS 
TO    CALIFORNIA. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS    MADE    FROM    PHOTOGRAPHS 
TAKEN    BY   THE    AUTHOR. 


BY 

ROBT.   D.   MCGONNIGLE. 

// 


PITTSBURG,  PA. 
1901. 


F^-^^" 

M3 


'yHIS  LITTLE  VOLUME  IS  AFFECTIONATELY 
*  DEDICATED  TO  MY  FRIEND  AND  TRAV- 
ELING COMPANION  "BERT"  (J.  R.  TINDLE). 

R.  D.  McG. 


Wi^r738G 


PREFACE 


THIS  little  story  of  the  trip  I  took  to  the  West 
has  not  been  written  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  myself  before  the  attention  of  the 
public  especially;  but  while  I  was  on  this  journey  I 
kept  a  memorandum  of  the  doings  of  each  day. 
Sometimes  I  wrote  them  sitting  on  the  ground, 
sometimes  while  on  a  wagon,  and  often  while  sitting 
in  the  saddle.  After  I  came  home  a  friend  had 
access  to  these  data;  he  suggested  the  idea  of  put- 
ting the  matter  into  such  shape  as  I  have  done,  and 
this  little  volume  is  the  result  herewith  submitted  to 
my  friends  without  any  further  comment.  It  may 
be  that  my  geography  and  geology,  as  well  as  some 
other  points  will  not  bear  the  scrutiny  of  scientific 
investigation,  and  whoever  feels  disposed  to  criticise 
is  at  liberty  to  do  so  to  his  heart's  desire. 

ROBT.   D.   MCGONNIGLE. 

PiTTSBURO,  Pa.,  April,  1901. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The  Author Frontispiece. 

OPPOSITE 
PAGE 

Custer  Trail  Ranch 20 

The  Bad  Lands 28 

Driving  up  the  Herd 36 

John  Grogan's  Ranch,  North  Dakota 44 

Sioux  Indians,  Standing  Rock  Agency 52 

On  the  Way  to  Indian  Reservation 60 

Bill  Jones 65 

Morning  Scene.    Camp  at  "  Dairy,"  Yellowstone 68 

"Old  Faithful"  in  the  Yellowstone 76 

John  Grogan 79 

Paint  Pots  in  the  Yellowstone 84 

Ed.  Staley 91 

Grand  Canon  of  the  Yellowstone 92 

"Our  Outfit"  in  the  Yellowstone 100 

Camp  in  the  Yellowstone 108 

Sergeant  Norlin 115 

Ed.  Staley's  Ranch,  Henry's  Lake,  Idaho 116 

Mrs.  Smith,  Princess  of  the  Piutes 124 

Pack  Train  Leaving  Staley's  Ranch 132 

The  Old  Trapper 139 

Stage  Coach  from  Lewiston  to  Grangeville 140 

Adams  Camp,  Idaho 148 

Ostrich  Farm,  California 156 

Magnolia  Avenue,  Riverside,  California 160 


When   I   Went  West. 


I. 
THE  START. 


THE  West  has  had  a  wonderful  fascination  for 
me  ever  since  I  can  remember  anything.  I 
do  not  claim  any  originality  for  this  notion, 
because  1  believe  in  that  respect  Americans  are  all 
alike.  All  of  us,  I  venture  to  say,  have  in  their 
early  youth  cherished  a  longing  for  the  country  of 
the  Setting  Sun,  because  of  the  many  marvellous 
suggestions  of  romance  which  are  conjured  up  in 
our  brain  when  we  think  of  the  West.  There  come 
before  us  visions  of  the  Red  Man  on  the  warpath 
with  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife,  dreams  of  the 
endless  prairie,  of  the  daring  cow-boy,  of  the  gold 
fields,  of  the  ranch  life,  of  buffalo  hunting  and  other 
pictures  of  excitement  and  adventure  that  are  so  in- 
teresting to  the  American  boy.  But  even  if  I  ever 
entertained  the  fond  hopes  that  some  day  I  should 
be  able  to  see  all  these  things  in  reality,  I  never 
really  believed  that  my  expectations  would  be  real- 
ized. 


Whsn  I  Went  West. 

However,  some  few  years  ago  circumstances  arose 
which  brought  the  idea  of  a  journey  to  the  West 
again  vividly  before  my  mind,  and  this  time  the 
opportunity  presented  itself  in  the  alluring  form  of 
an  invitation  from  friends  of  mine  who  own  a  ranch 
in  North  Dakota.  As  there  were  no  obstacles  to 
prevent  my  acceptance  of  this  invitation,  I  made  up 
my  mind  to  go.  Moreover,  I  was  greatly  encour- 
aged in  my  plans  by  the  fact  that  I  was  slowly  re- 
covering from  a  serious  illness;  and  my  physician, 
a  practical  medical  man  of  the  highest  standing  in 
his  profession,  when  I  told  him  of  my  intention,  re- 
marked at  once:  * 'That's  it,  exactly.  Go  out  West, 
sleep  on  the  ground  and  get  back  to  nature.*' 

That  settled  it.  I  immediately  completed  all  my 
preparations,  and  in  the  beautiful  month  of  June  I 
was  ready  to  depart. 

Now  I  want  to  say  right  here  that  two  friends  of 
mine,  **Bert"  and  *'Jack,"  were  going  to  be  my 
travelling  companions,  and  as  they  evinced  the  same 
anxiety  for  the  trip  as  I  did,  it  did  not  take  us  long 
before  we  were  on  our  way  to  the  Custer  Trail 
Ranch,  Medora,  Billings  County,  North  Dakota,  a 
ranch  owned  by  the  Eaton  Brothers,  who  formerly 
lived  in  Pittsburg. 

It 


The  Start. 

With  a  complete  outfit,  not  extensive  but  suitable 
for  our  purpose,  including  some  guns  and  ammu- 
nition, we  took  our  departure. 


II. 

FROM  PITTSBURG  TO  ST.  PAUL. 


WE  went  by  rail  from  Pittsburg  to  Cleveland 
and  stayed  there  over  night.  The  following 
morning  we  took  the  fine  steamer  Northland 
across  Lake  Erie  to  Duluth,  from  where  the  railway 
was  to  convey  us  to  the  end  of  our  trip.  We  found 
about  125  passengers  on  board  the  boat,  consisting 
of  tourists,  miners,  prospectors,  merchants  bound 
for  the  Pacific  Coast,  a  bride  and  groom,  and  of 
course  a  Catholic  priest  or  two.  The  accommoda- 
tions on  the  boat  were  all  first-class.  There  was  a 
good,  comfortable  state  room,  a  splendid  table,  and 
excellent  service.  It  had  been  raining  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  the  weather  on  the  lake  was  delightful. 
At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  made  our  first 
stop  at  Detroit,  where  we,  however,  only  remained 
long  enough  to  load  and  unload  freight,  discharged 
some  passengers  and  took  on  others.  Then  we 
launched  out  to  Mackinac.  We  passed  now  through 
the  St.  Clair  river  with  its  hundreds  of  hunting  and 

20 


Custer  Traii,  Ranch. 


Pittsburg  to  St.  Paul. 

fishing  camps.  The  next  day  we  traversed  Lake 
Huron  and  came  to  Mackinac.  The  charming  island 
could  be  seen  for  many  miles;  and  standing  out 
very  plainly,  high  above  the  water,  it  looked  for 
all  the  world  like  a  green  cameo  carved  upon  the 
limpid  waters  of  the  lake.  The  beauty  of  Mackinac, 
as  I  looked  at  it  from  the  deck  of  our  boat,  appealed 
to  me  very  strongly,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the 
lovely  picture. 

It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  we 
touched  at  the  dock  at  Mackinac.  We  were  stared 
at  by  the  usual  crowd  that  is  always  found  there, 
iucluding  the  old-fashioned  drayman  with  the  old- 
fashioned  dray  and  the  very  long  **skid"  reaching 
to  the  ground.  The  old  fort  was  plainly  to  be  seen 
from  where  I  stood,  showing  some  signs  of  decay  as 
the  result  of  its  abandonment.  The  Hotel  Grand 
was  visible  to  the  left,  and  the  old  Mission  House 
on  the  right.  The  aged,  deserted  church  was  there, 
too,  indeed,  the  scene  was  all  so  quiet  and  peaceful 
one  was  almost  tempted  to  stop  off  for  an  hour  or 
two. 

But  soon  the  steamer's  whistle  blew  and  awoke 
us  from  our  reverie.  In  another  few  moments  we 
turned  our  backs  upon  the  beautiful  isle,  and  our 

21 


Whkn  I  Went  West. 

next  stop  was  the  *'Soo,"  or  more  properly  called 
Sault  St.  Marie,  where  we  arrived  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  Here  at  the  government  lock  the 
steamer  was  lifted  over  the  rapids,  but  after  that 
our  boat  again  ''paddled  her  own  canoe.*'  The 
ride  to  the  Soo  was  interesting  and  enjoyable;  we 
passed  through  the  Mud  Lake,  which  is  dotted  with 
a  number  of  small  islands.  So  close  did  we  steam 
to  some  of  them  that  we  almost  touched  the  shore. 
The  weather  was  now  getting  cold,  and  our  over- 
coats were  quite  comfortable. 

The  trip  from  Detroit  to  the  Soo  was  especially 
interesting  on  account  of  the  many  vessels  we  met. 
There  were  steamers,  sailing  ships,  tugs  and  whale- 
backs,  in  fact  we  passed  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
craft.  Often  it  seemed  as  if  a  regular  procession  of 
them  were  parading  before  us. 

The  next  morning,  Friday,  found  us  on  Lake 
Superior,  the  water  of  which,  we  are  told,  is  always 
ice  cold,  and  anyone  falling  into  it,  it  is  said,  is  sure 
of  drowning.  The  air  was  quite  cold,  and  the  smok- 
ing room  and  cafe  of  the  steamer  were  far  prefer- 
able to  the  deck.  At  one  point  we  saw  three 
mirages,  one  very  close,  but  the  others  appeared 
miles  away.     All  of  them  were  reflections  of  ships, 

22 


Pittsburg  to  St.  Paui.. 

and  they  looked  so  natural  it  was  difficult  for  us  to 
imagine  that  they  were  not  real.  They  gradually 
faded  away  as  our  good  steamer  plowed  on,  bound 
for  Duluth. 

I  recall  here  that  one  of  the  delicacies  served  on 
the  ship's  table  was  planked  white-fish.  Of  course, 
planked  shad  has  always  been  noted  as  a  great  deli- 
cacy, but  a  planked  white-fish,  fresh  out  of  the 
waters  of  Lake  Superior,  I  can  assure  you  is  about 
as  tasty  a  morsel  as  one  can  get. 

We  arrived  at  Duluth  about  nine  o'clock  P.  M., 
two  hours  behind  schedule  time  and  just  late  enough 
to  miss  our  railroad  connections. 

Duluth  seems  to  be  built  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  and 
from  the  deck  of  our  vessel  going  into  her  dock  a 
Pittsburger  would  imagine  he  was  about  to  land  at 
the  South  Side.  There  was  the  incline  plane,  the 
street  cars  passing  along  the  foot  of  the  hill,  the 
myriads  of  lights,  electric  and  gas;  indeed,  it  all 
looked  quite  home-like.  The  dock  of  Duluth  was 
crowded  with  all  sorts  of  hacks,  with  any  number  of 
hackmen,  all  talking  at  once,  just  like  it  used  to  be 
at  Niagara  Falls.  After  some  delay  we  got  off  the 
boat.  The  hackman  we  hired  started  his  team  at 
break-neck  speed,  going  up  a  kind  of  gangway  lead- 

28 


When  I  Went  West. 

ing  from  the  dock,  and  at  one  point  we  felt  sure  our 
hack  would  tip  over,  but  by  good  luck  we  arrived  at 
the  Spalding  House  safe  and  sound. 

We  had  now  been  on  the  boat  for  three  days  and 
two  nights,  and  while  the  steamer's  accommodations 
were  satisfactory  in  every  respect,  I,  for  one,  was 
glad  the  * 'waterway**  part  of  our  journey  was  done. 
Possibly  I  am  not  fond  of  traveling  on  the  boat,  but 
the  fact  is,  it  was  monotonous  to  me,  and  not  at  all 
so  enjoyable  as  I  had  anticipated. 

We  were  all  up  bright  and  early  the  next  morn- 
ing and  spent  some  time  looking  about  the  town. 
The  atmosphere  was  delightful,  clear,  cool,  bracing 
and  invigorating,  and  Duluth  can  claim  one  thing,  if 
nothing  else — a  salubrious  climate  in  July.  Just 
what  sort  of  weather  they  may  have  about  Christ- 
mas I  did  not  stop  to  inquire. 

Duluth  is  a  real  Western  town.  In  many  places 
sidewalks  are  built  of  boards,  and  the  streets  are 
paved  with  wooden  blocks.  The  town  was  full  of 
lumbermen,  miners,  prospectors,  etc.,  which  indi- 
cated the  character  of  the  industries  carried  on  in 
the  vicinity. 

The  following  morning  we  took  our  departure 
from  here  for  St.   Paul,   where  the   railroad  cars 

24 


Pittsburg  to  St.  Paui.. 

landed  us  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day.  This  part  of  our  journey  was  full  of  in- 
terest to  me.  The  weather  was  pleasant  and  we 
passed  along  a  chain  of  many  small  lakes.  Among 
them  was  White  Bear  Lake,  which  had  all  the 
appearance  of  a  popular  summer  resort. 

In  St.  Paul  we  discovered  that  our  train  for 
Medora  and  the  end  of  our  trip  would  not  leave 
untJl  eleven  o'clock  that  night.  Hence  to  while 
away  the  time  we  amused  ourselves  during  the 
afternoon  by  riding  on  the  street  cars  between  the 
twin  cities  of  Minnesota.  Soon  after  our  train  had 
pulled  out  of  the  station  that  night,  and  we  had  just 
made  ourselves  comfortable  in  the  sleeping  car,  we 
discovered  that  three  of  qur  fellow-passengers  were 
also  going  to  the  Custer  Trail  Ranch.  When  we 
got  acquainted  it  turned  out  that  they  were  brothers 
from  Chicago,  going  to  spend  their  vacation  on 
the  ranch.  The  name  of  one  of  these  young  men 
was  Sloan,  and  so  we  immediately  ''dubbed*'  him 
"Tod  Sloan."  He  retained  this  nickname  through- 
out his  stay  at  the  ranch,  and  I  have  been  informed 
recently  that  he  is  yet  called  *'Tod  Sloan." 


III. 

COMING  TO  THE  BAD  LANDS. 


WE  were  now  coming  closer  and  closer  to  our 
journey^s  end,  and  our  anxiety  to  get  there 
grew  with  each  revolution  of  the  wheels  of 
our  train.  Throughout  our  trip  we  had  been  talk- 
ing and  dreaming  so  much  about  our  prospective 
life  on  the  ranch  that  our  longing  for  its  realization 
became  almost  feverish. 

However,  the  ride  from  St.  Paul  to  Medora  pre- 
sented to  us  many  new  and  interesting  sights,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  these  diversions  that  last  stage 
on  the  railroad  would  have  been  very  tedious  in- 
deed. 

The  next  day  we  entered  the  Red  River  valley, 
that  great  grain-producing  section  of  our  North- 
western country,  where,  on  all  sides,  came  to  our 
view  home-like  farm  houses,  good  barns  and  other 
evidences  of  abundance  and  prosperity  among  the 
settlers.     It  was  about  breakfast  time  when  the 


The  Bad  Lands. 

train  made  its  first  Stop  of  the  day  at  Fargo,  North 
Dakota,  and  although  we  did  not  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  take  very  close  observations  of  the  town, 
the  general  aspect  gave  us  the  impression  of  a  pros- 
perous, thriving  place. 

But  we  were  destined  to  meet  before  long  with  a 
contrast  to  this  panorama  of  prosperity.  That  was 
at  Bismarck,  where  we  crossed  the  Missouri  river. 
There  was  a  boom  in  Bismarck  a  few  years  ago,  as 
some  of  you  will  perhaps  remember.  Well,  this 
boom  was  not  very  stable,  and  before  long  it  col- 
lapsed. When  I  was  there  the  only  signs  I  could 
detect  of  its  former  existence  were  the  ravages  it 
carried  on  during  the  process  of  decomposition.  The 
boom  had  left  the  people  nothing,  so  I  am  told,  but 
mortgages  of  all  sizes;  and  what  I  have  heard  from 
Bismarck  since  is,  that  most  of  these  mortgages  are 
still  there  waiting  to  be  lifted. 

But  in  spite  of  that  dreadful  visitation  of  this 
bursting  boom,  Bismarck  is  now  doing  the  Phoenix 
act — and  rising  from  its  ashes.  I  tell  you  these 
Western  pioneers  are  a  hardy  lot  of  people,  and  it 
takes  more  than  one  bursting  boom  to  down  them. 
As  I  have  been  among  them  I  have  learned  to  love 
and  respect  them,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  the 


When  I  Wknt  Wkst. 

people  of  Bismarck  who  are  trying  to  rebuild  their 
town  and  make  it  once  more  a  prosperous  place, 
will  meet  with  success.  They  deserve  it,  and  I 
trust  they  will  get  it. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Missouri  from  Bismarck 
we  came  to  Mandan,  another  town  where  a  boom 
had  burst.  We  could  see  this  by  the  large  brick 
buildings  which  were  standing  out  on  the  prairie 
like  mourning  monuments  of  a  glorious  past. 

At  Mandan  we  caught  for  the  first  time  glimpses 
of  real  cowboys  and  Indians,  who  were  standing 
among  the  crowd  that  were  waiting  to  see  the  train 
steam  into  the  station.  There  is  an  Indian  store  at 
the  depot  in  Mandan  which  is  full  of  interesting 
curiosities,  which  ar^  for  sale,  of  course,  and  the 
train  as  a  rule  remains  here  long  enough  to  give  the 
travelers  a  chance  to  spend  some  of  their  loose 
change. 

At  Dickinson,  another  mile  post  nearer  our  desti- 
nation, we  were  again  greeted  by  the  usual  crowd 
of  cowboys,  Indians  and  settlers;  but  in  addition  we 
also  noticed  some  half  a  dozen  men  all  minus  one 
leg,  and  all  were  beggars.  We  tried  to  find  out 
why  it  was  that  Dickinson  should  have  this  dis- 


The  Bad  Lands. 


The  Bad  Lands. 

tinction  of  a  corner  in  one-legged  men,  but  no  one 
seemed  to  be  able  to  give  the  desired  information. 

Beyond  Dickinson  the  aspect  of  the  country  began 
to  show  some  remarkable  changes  from  what  it  had 
been  hitherto.  It  became  much  rougher  and  bleak 
looking,  which  we  knew  was  a  sure  indication  that 
we  were  now  approaching  the  ''Bad  Lands."  But 
as  the  end  of  our  journey  was  also  located  in  the 
"Bad  Lands,*'  we  hailed  this  discovery  with  delight, 
because  we  realized  that  now  our  destination  could 
not  be  much  farther  off. 

With  the  character  of  the  country  we  also  noticed 
a  change  in  the  style  of  the  human  habitations  as 
we  passed  them.  Instead  of  meeting  with  what  we 
should  call  in  the  East  a  farm  house,  we  came  across 
a  * 'shack,  *'  as  it  is  designated  in  the  parlance  of  the 
West. 

These  "shacks' '  were  built  of  logs,  often  set  up 
on  end  like  a  stockade.  Most  of  them  were  one 
story  high,  they  had  a  mud  roof,  and  they  were 
generally  located  under  the  shelter  of  a  hill. 
•  As  we  came  farther  into  the  Bad  Lands  the 
scenery  of  the  country  aroused  us  to  astonishment. 
Hither  and  thither,  all  around  us,  the  formation  pre- 
sented an  irregular  succession  of  hills,  or  buttes,  as 

29 


When  I  Went  West. 

they  are  called  out  there.  These  buttes  rise  up 
from  the  ground  like  ever  so  many  monstrous  mole- 
hills. In  some  cases  they  are  from  two  hundred  to 
three  hundred  feet  high,  but  no  two  buttes  are  ex- 
actly alike.  No  timber  is  to  be  seen;  a  growth  of 
buffalo  or  sage  grass  is  the  only  visible  sign  of  vege- 
tation. Here  and  there  we  also  observed  a  patch  of 
*' scoria'*  and  great  streaks  of  alkali,  which  to  us 
looked  like  rivulets  of  salt. 

We  had,  of  course,  heard  of  the  Bad  Lands.  We 
knew  that  our  journey  was  to  lead  us  into  them, 
but  now  that  we  were  actually  there,  the  sights  we 
beheld  were  altogether  different  from  what  our  im- 
agination had  pictured  them. 

It  was  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  July  2nd 
when  our  train  pulled  into  Medora  station.  We 
were  four  hours  behind  schedule  time.  As  I  got  up 
from  my  seat,  gathered  my  loose  traveling  effects 
about  me,  and  stepped  from  the  car  onto  the  plat- 
form of  the  primitive  depot,  I  felt  as  if  I  were  just 
awaking  from  a  long  dream.  Anxiously  as  I  had 
been  looking  forward  to  this  moment,  it  was  very 
difficult  for  me  to  grasp  the  fact  that  the  consumma- 
tion of  these  dreams  of  mine  were  about  to  be  real- 
ized. 


The  Bad  Lands. 

I  was  still  wondering  where  I  was  at  when  Willis 
Eaton,  of  the  Custer  Trail  Ranch,  and  one  of  our 
hosts,  slapped  me  on  the  shoulder  and  then  shook 
me  by  the  hands  in  true  Western  style. 

His  hearty  welcome  soon  brought  us  to  our 
senses.  Conveyances  were  awaiting  us  and  we 
lost  no  time  tumbling  into  the  wagons  to  be  off  for 
the  ranch,  which  is  located  about  five  miles  south  of 
Medora  station. 

That  drive  was  one  of  the  oddest  experiences  I 
have  ever  had.  Not  that  the  going  was  so  very  bad, 
although  we  did  take  a  terrible  chance  of  our  lives 
when  we  crossed  Sully  Creek.  But  the  wonderful 
formation  of  the  country  was  what  impressed  us 
most.  We  were  now  in  the  Bad  Lands,  you 
remember,  and  as  we  drove  along  we  found  our- 
selves surrounded  on  all  sides  by  these  buttes, 
which  were  dotted  over  the  panorama  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach  in  all  directions.  It  was  hill  and 
hollow  all  the  time,  and  it  seemed  a  puzzle  to  me 
how  we  should  find  our  way  over  these  things. 
However,  no  accidents  happened,  neither  did  we 
get  lost. 

On  this  drive  we  passed  Prairie  Dog  Villages,  the 
Peilliser  Ranch;  we  saw  Square  Butte,  about  forty 


miles  away  to  the  west.  Then  we  saw  Sentinel 
Butte  and  Bullion  Butte.  These  are  all  much  higher 
than  the  ordinary  buttes,  and  for  that  reason  they 
are  remarkable. 

But  everything  comes  to  an  end,  and  so  at  last 
did  our  drive,  when  we  turned  down  a  long,  narrow 
path,  which  finally  landed  us  at  the  door  of  Custer 
Trail,  our  destination. 


IV. 
CUSTER  TRAIL  RANCH. 


|ii  LL  of  you,  I  have  no  doubt,  have  heard  and 
Kl  read  much  about  Western  hospitality  and 
V-»  cordiality;  but  let  me  assure  you  that  no 
matter  how  eminent  and  well  qualified  may  have 
been  the  source  of  your  information,  its  reality  has 
never  been  properly  conveyed  second  or  third  hand. 
Hence  I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  to  you  the 
feelings  that  came  over  me  when  we  were  bid  wel- 
come to  the  Custer  Trail  Ranch.  If  we  had  been 
children  of  the  house,  who  were  born  there  and  had 
returned  to  the  home  of  our  boyhood  after  an  ab- 
sence of  many  years,  the  greetings  could  no.t  have 
been  more  spontaneous;  and  the  ring  in  the  voices 
that  expressed  these  greetings  could  not  have  been 
heartier  if  those  people — many  of  them  perfect 
strangers  to  us  and  we  to  them — had  been  our 
brothers. 

No  wonder  we  felt  at  home  as  soon  as  we  got 
there,  and  when  we  sat  down  to  table,  having  our 


When  I  Wknt  West. 

supper  with  the  crowd  and  looking  around  at  all 
the  smiling  faces  beaming  upon  us  with  good  fellow- 
ship, we  instinctively  felt  that  'Mt  was  good  to  be 
there.'' 

Our  quarters  were  assigned  to  us  in  a  frame 
building  that  was  part  of  the  ranch  ''outfit/'  and 
which,  of  course,  was  called  a  ''shack,"  like  every 
other  building  in  that  country,  no  difference  whether 
it  be  a  dwelling  or  a  stable.  In  this  "shack"  we 
made  our  home  during  our  stay  on  the  ranch,  and 
the  memories  of  the  pleasant  hours  we  spent  to- 
gether in  that  primitive  structure  in  the  wilderness 
of  North  Dakota  bring  back  to  my  mind  some  of  the 
most  agreeable  moments  of  my  life. 

After  enjoying  a  good  night's  rest  we  awoke  in 
the  morning,  and  then  we  got  up  to  take  in  the  sur- 
roundings. 

Custer  Trail  Ranch  is  located  in  a  small  grove  of 
Cottonwood  trees,  which  is  about  the  only  kind  of 
timber  found  in  the  Bad  Lands.  The  Ranch  is  situ- 
ated a  mile  or  so  from  the  Little  Missouri  River. 
The  place  is  supplied  with  water  by  a  system  of 
wells.  The  water  is  strongly  impregnated  with 
alkali,  but  nevertheless  it  is  pleasant  to  the  taste, 


OusTKR  Traii,  Ranch. 

and  as  far  as  I  could  learn  it  is  not  at  all  unwhole- 
some as  a  beverage. 

The  ranch  building  proper  was  a  two-story 
structure  made  of  logs.  The  second  story  was 
composed  of  weather  boarding  and  contained  seven 
rooms.  As  you  entered  the  front  door  there  was  a 
large  apartment  observable  on  the  right.  This  was 
the  general  living  room,  or  the  ranch  headquarters, 
as  it  were.  In  this  room  was  a  large  book  case  well 
stocked  with  books  and  other  kind  of  reading  mat- 
ter. The  daily  papers  were  spread  about  on  the 
table.  Then  there  were  also  some  musical  instru- 
ments here.  In  addition,  this  room  was  also  used  as 
a  writing  room,  and  it  was  the  custom  of  some  of 
our  friends  to  conduct  here  in  the  evening  their  cor- 
respondence with  the  outside  world. 

Opposite  these  headquarters  on  the  other  side  of 
the  main  entrance  was  the  large,  airy  dining  room, 
where  we  had  many  delicious  meals  and  ^'swapped" 
good  and  bad  stories  while  the  eating  was  going  on. 

The  rooms  on  the  second  floor  were  all  used  as 
sleeping  apartments. 

Besides  this  main  building  and  the  shack  my  com- 
panions and  I  occupied,  there  was  another  shack 
called  the  *'Dude  Pen,*'  a  third  the  ^'Medora  Flats,'' 


Whkn  I  W^NT  West. 

and  at  last  there  had  been  two  large  tents  erected 
to  take  care  of  the  **  overflow/'  These  tents  were 
known  by  the  name  of  the  ''Midway.*'  The 
structures  I  have  named  thus  far  were  all  used  for 
dwelling  purposes,  while  there  were  still  some  other 
buildings,  such  as  the  blacksmith  shop,  the  corrals, 
the  stable,  etc.,  which  made  up  the  complete  ranch 
or  "outfit.'* 

There  were  about  forty  people  located  at  Custer 
Trail  Ranch  when  I  was  its  guest.  Some  fifteen  of 
them  were  school  boys  from  Chicago  and  Pittsburg, 
who  had  come  out  West  to  spend  their  vacation  by 
leading  this  rough,  outdoor  life  for  the  amusement 
and  the  recreation  there  was  in  it.  These  boys 
lived  in  the  "  Midway,"  and  as  far  as  wildness, 
hilarity  and  "  cutting  up  "  was  concerned,  the  goings 
on  in  the  Midway  at  the  Chicago  World's  Fair  were 
a  Sunday  school  affair  in  comparison. 

The  rest  of  the  population  on  the  ranch  were 
visitors  and  guests  like  ourselves,  and  then  the 
regular  members  of  the  household,  the  servants, 
stablemen,  ranchmen,  and  last,  but  not  least,  the 
cowboys. 


Driving  up  the  Herd. 


V. 

LIFE  ON  THE  RANCH. 


VERY  often  I  have  been  asked,  ''What  sort  of  a 
life  did  you  live  on  the  ranch,  and  what  did 
you  do  with  yourself  all  day?"  And  when- 
ever this  question  has  been  put  to  me  I  had  to  think 
and  study  awhile  before  I  was  ready  to  give  an  an- 
swer. Now  this  hesitation  on  my  part  was  not 
occasioned  because  we  led  a  life  of  idleness  and  I 
had  nothing  to  tell.  On  the  contrary,  every  day 
was  taken  up  with  so  many  different  things  that  it 
was  difficult  for  me  to  recall  all  the  occupations  we 
enjoyed  during  one  particular  day. 

The  ranch  life  is  on  the  whole  very  irregular,  and 
no  one  is  bound  down  to  any  routine,  like  your 
bath,  your  breakfast,  going  to  the  office,  then  to 
lunch,  then  back  to  the  office,  and  at  last  return 
home  for  the  evening.  There  seems  to  be  an  at- 
mosphere of  freedom  and  independence  that  per- 
vades the  country  out  West  which  manifests  itself 
also  amongst  the  people  who  live  there.     The  result 


When  I  Went  West. 

is  they  do  things  as  they  please  and  when  they 
please.  Of  course  that  kind  of  thing  would  not 
work  in  the  East,  but  out  there,  where  everybody  is 
animated  by  the  same  spirit,  the  system  acts  like  a 
charm. 

Many  of  you  will  think  that  under  such  conditions 
not  much  can  be  accomplished,  but  you  are  wrong. 
The  people  on  the  ranches  are  all  hard  working  in- 
dividuals; each  one  knows  what  he  has  to  do,  and 
he  does  not  shirk  his  work,  because  he  is  not 
*'  bossed  **  all  the  time.  Indeed,  a  fellow  who  would 
try  *'  soldiering,"  as  we  call  it  here,  would  soon  find 
the  place  out  West  too  hot  for  him,  and  he  would 
gladly  clear  out  of  his  own  volition. 

At  Custer  Trail  they  had  about  six  hundred  head 
of  cattle  and  the  same  number  of  horses.  The  cattle 
were  practically  kept  on  the  range  and  so  were  part  of 
the  horses.  Some  two  or  three  hundred  horses  were 
kept  in  a  place  known  as  the  big  pasture,  and  they 
were  driven  into  the  corral  every  morning,  when 
those  that  were  to  be  used  would  be  ^^  caught  up  " 
with  a  lariat  or  rope,  and  the  balance  were  driven 
back  again  into  this  pasture.  Every  person  on  the 
ranch  had  two  horses  assigned  to  him  to  be  ridden 
on  alternate  days.     After  we  had  breakfast  in  the 


Life  on  the  Ranch. 

morning  we  used  to  go  to  this  corral  and  watch 
the  horses  being  caught  up.  We  had  to  be  there  on 
time,  because  you  never  knew  whether  your  horse 
would  be  caught  first  or  last,  and  if  you  happened  to 
be  out  of  sight  when  yours  had  been  roped,  why  the 
animal  would  be  let  go  again.  The  chances  then 
were  that  you  had  to  do  without  a  mount  for  that 
day.  But  supposing  you  reported  on  time,  like  we 
always  did,  then  we  got  our  horses  as  they  were 
brought  up,  and  now  we  had  to  take  charge  of  them 
for  the  rest  of  the  day.  Wherever  we  went  the 
horses  went  with  us.  In  fact,  on  the  ranch  very 
little  walking  is  done;  it  is  all  riding,  and  the  people 
practically  live  on  horseback. 

The  catching  of  these  horses  would  take  about 
two  hours  every  morning,  and  of  course  you  can 
imagine  there  was  quite  a  lot  of  excitement  con- 
nected with  this  proceeding. 

Then  there  was  much  going  on  about  the  corral 
and  the  stables  during  this  time  that  was  all  very 
interesting  to  us.  Sometimes  the  saddles  were  mixed 
up,  or  the  blankets  had  been  mislaid,  or  some  other 
parts  of  our  outfit  had  been  lost  or  hidden,  all  of 
which  diversion  caused  annoyance  to  some  and 
amusement  to  the  others. 


Wh^n  I  Wejnt  Wejst. 

Then  we  would  watch  the  men  "cinching'*  up  a 
broncho,  and  the  trouble  and  excitement  that  goes 
along  with  that  work  afforded  the  onlookers  much 
amusement.  At  last,  however,  we  were  all  ready  to 
go  off  sight-seeing,  and  all  the  parties  scattered  in 
every  direction.  These  trips  were  of  constantly 
changing  interest;  indeed,  in  their  variety  of  scenery 
the  Bad  Lands  are  very  remarkable. 

We  used  Mexican  saddles  with  a  high  pomrpel  and 
cantel.  The  bridle  was  an  ordinary  Western  curb 
bit  with  a  single  rein. 

The  horses  are  trained  to  a  fox  trot  or  lope,  and 
they  are  great  travelers  of  marvelous  endurance, 
very  sure-footed  and  under  excellent  control.  They 
are  never  shod  or  curried,  and,  remarkable  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  they  knew  nothing  about  being  fed 
with  grain.  To  make  a  Western  ranch  horse  take 
to  oats  is  an  impossibility,  unless  you  were  to  teach 
it  first  how  to  eat  them.  These  animals  **  rustle  " 
for  themselves,  as  it  is  called,  both  in  summer  and 
winter.  After  a  long  ride,  as  soon  as  the  saddle  is 
taken  off  their  backs,  they  will  roll  on  the  ground, 
shake  themselves,  get  up,  and  then  they  are  ready 
for  another  journey. 


Life  on  the  Ranch. 

When  we  did  not  have  any  plans  for  a  day's  ex- 
cursion we  used  to  stay  around  the  ranch  trying  to 
make  ourselves  useful.  There  was  always  some 
errand  to  go  on,  or  a  trip  to  make  somewhere,  and 
everyone  was  ready  at  any  time  to  turn  in  and  do 
what  he  could. 

Thus  the  day  passed  before  we  knew  it,  and  in 
the  evening  we  would  gather  at  headquarters  or  in 
some  of  the  shacks  to  go  over  the  occurrences  of  the 
day  or  tell  stories. 

One  thing  I  vividly  remember,  and  that  is  that  we 
were  always  ready  to  eat;  and  when  it  was  time  to 
go  to  bed  we  went  to  sleep  without  requiring  to  be 
rocked. 

The  clothing  we  wore  was  chosen  more  with  an 
idea  for  comfort  than  for  appearance.  The  general 
costume  consisted  of  a  big  hat,  flannel  shirt,  over- 
alls, large  boots  and  gloves. 

The  arrival  of  the  mail  in  the  afternoon  was 
always  an  important  event,  and  often  the  mail-pouch 
brought  no  less  than  a  hundred  letters  and  papers. 


41 


VI. 
THE    COWBOY. 


THE  second  day  after  our  arrival  at  Custer  Trail 
was  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  a  grand  program 
had  been  prepared  for  the  faithful  celebration 
of  America's  greatest  holiday.  But  before  I  give  the 
details  of  these  festivities  I  shall  tell  you  something 
about  one  of  the  most  unique  characters  of  the  West, 
the  North  American  cowboy. 

Eastern  people,  as  a  rule,  have  an  erroneous  con- 
ception of  the  cowboy.  The  prevailing  idea  seems 
to  be  that  he  is  a  wild,  reckless,  dare-devil.  A 
brawling  braggart,  an  unfeeling  rascal,  who  cares 
neither  for  the  laws  of  God  nor  man.  We  usually 
see  him  pictured  on  horseback,  armed  to  the  teeth, 
flourishing  a  revolver  and  apparently  shooting  at 
everything  in  sight.  Most  of  these  impressions  do 
the  cowboy  an  injustice. 

In  judging  the  character  of  the  cowboy  you  must 
consider  his  social  environments,  his  mode  of  living 
and  his  occupation.  It  is  true  that  his  manner  is 
very  independent,  and  that  he  does  not  allow  anyone 

42 


The   Cowboy. 

to  order  him  about.  But  this  results  from  the  fact 
that  he  is  ordinarily  surrounded  by  circumstances 
where  he  has  to  rely  entirely  upon  his  own  personal 
resources.  Living  out  on  the  prairie,  away  from  all 
civilization,  where  the  polishing  influences  of  cult- 
ure never  reach  him,  constantly  threatened  by  mani- 
fold dangers  to  life  and  limb,  free  from  the  restrain- 
ing authority  of  boss  and  master,  is  it  any  wonder 
that  he  should  acquire  instinctively  a  freedom  of 
action  and  independence,  which  would  seem  strange 
among  people  in  any  other  walk  of  life? 

Now  let  me  tell  you  what  the  impressions  were 
which  I  formed  of  the  cowboys  during  the  time  I 
lived  with  them  and  associated  with  them  under 
various  conditions.  In  my  opinion  the  average  cow- 
boy is  one  of  the  finest  specimen  of  American  man- 
hood. 

His  outdoor  life  and  constant  exposure  to  the  ele- 
ments have  made  him  physically  strong.  The  many 
dangers  and  difficulties  he  has  to  encounter  in  the 
pursuance  of  his  work  have  sharpened  his  wits. 
They  have  made  him  fearless,  alert,  brave  and 
courageous. 

Speaking  of  his  character  I  would  call  him  whole- 
souled,  generous,  charitable,  open-hearted  and  chiv- 

48 


When  I  Went  West. 

alrous,  but  he  is  quick  to  resent  an  insult,  real  or 
imaginary. 

In  his  manner  he  is  jovial,  noisy,  dashing,  and 
often  boisterous,  but  not  vicious. 

In  his  habits  he  is  frugal  and  temperate.  He  is 
fond  of  gambling,  but  he  never  cheats. 

Of  course  cowboys  sometimes  go  on  a  **  spree,*' 
as  they  call  it,  especially  after  they  have  just  re- 
turned from  an  extended  trip,  and  when  they  get 
into  a  town  or  settlement  on  these  occasions  they 
usually  make  a  great  racket,  but  this  I  consider  is 
merely  an  involuntary  outburst  of  their  exuberant 
spirits,  which  have  been  dormant  so  long,  while 
they  were  away  after  the  cattle. 

The  cowboy  is  an  expert  shot  with  the  gun  and 
revolver,  but  I  think  that  he  follows  the  practice  of 
shooting  more  as  a  matter  of  pastime,  and  that  he 
does  not  try  to  become  a  skilled  marksman,  because 
he  has  a  desire  to  shoot  his  fellow-men.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  finds  the  revolver  very  handy  in  the 
prairie  for  killing  snakes  and  other  wild  beasts.  At 
last,  however,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
revolver  is  the  weapon  which  everybody  carries  out 
West  for  personal  safety  and  to  defend  himself. 


John  Grogan's  Ranch,  North  Dakota. 


The   Cowboy. 

The  cowboy  is  the  personification  of  honesty  and 
hospitality.  A  sneak  or  a  thief  never  stays  long 
amongst  them,  because  as  soon  as  he  is  found  out 
the  place  is  made  so  hot  for  him  that  he  is  glad  to 
get  away  alive.  Strangers  are  always  made  wel- 
come, and  the  cowboy  will  divide  with  his  guest  all 
he  possesses,  without  expecting  anything  in  return. 

Of  course  they  are  almost  constantly  on  horse- 
back. Most  of  them  are  smooth-shaven,  but  some 
of  them  have  littl^  mustachios.  They  wear  big 
sombrero  hats  and  large  spurs. 

One  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  cowboys  I 
noticed  was  that  they  are  inveterate  cigaret  smok- 
ers. They  roll  these  things  themselves.  A  paper 
of  tobacco  is  always  carried  in  their  righ^  hip 
pocket,  and  the  cigaret  paper  is  in  the  flannel  shirt 
pocket  on  the  left  side.  It  is  astonishing  to  see  how 
quickly  they  can  roll,  in  the  deftest  manner,  a  nice 
cigaret,  while  they  are  riding  along  at  their  work. 
I  inquired  into  the  reason  for  their  preference  of 
cigarets  to  any  other  form  of  tobacco,  and  I  found 
that  they  could  not  carry  cigars  or  pipes  so  con- 
veniently. 


VII. 
THE   FOURTH   OF  JULY. 


|HE 


HE  following  posters  had  been  distributed  pre- 
vious to  the  anniversary  of  the  day  of  Amer- 
ican Independence: 


A  Grand  Celebration  will  be  held  on  July  4th  at  Medora, 
***** 

Pony  Races  on  vhe  Buttes. 

*     *     *     *     X- 

Base  Bai,!.  Game  Between  the  Sentinei.  Buttes  and 
THE  Medoras. 

***** 

Foot  Races,  Cwmbing  Greased  Poi<e, 
Potato  Race,  Etc. 

***** 

Grand  Bai^i,  in  the  Evening  at  the  Hai,i,. 

***** 

Ai^i,  ARE  Invited. 

***** 

Come  and  Have  a  Good  Day's  Sport. 

***** 

By  order  of  the  Committee  on  Arrangements. 


The  Fourth  of  July. 

On  the  morning  of  the  Fourth  every  person  about 
the  ranch  was  mounted  early,  and  we  all  started  for 
Medora.  When  we  got  there  we  could  see  the  cow- 
boys and  ranchmen  coming  in  from  all  directions, 
generally  riding  at  the  accustomed  **  lope."  All 
looked  determined  to  have  a  good  time. 

A  profusely  decorated  grand  stand  had  been 
erected  in  the  Public  Square  of  the  town,  and  here 
the  notables  of  the  surrounding  section,  with  their 
ladies,  were  out  in  force.  Some  of  the  visitors  had 
come  from  distances  of  over  fifty  miles. 

Big  Pete,  ex-Sheriff  of  Billings  County,  was  mas- 
ter of  ceremonies,  and  he  acquitted  himself  of  his 
onerous  responsibilities  with  supreme  satisfaction, 
especially  to  himself.  By  the  time  the  races  were 
ready  to  begin  Big  Pete  made  his  way  at  the  head 
of  a  large  procession  of  onlookers  towards  the  butte, 
located  immediately  back  of  the  town.  On  this 
butte  the  races  were  to  be  held.  The  side  of  the 
hill  facing  us  rose  up  almost  perpendicular,  and  in 
consequence  to  reach  the  summit  it  was  necessary 
to  go  around  it  to  the  other  side,  where  a  narrow 
path  led  to  the  top,  while  a  winding  trail  made  it 
possible  for  the  vehicles  to  get  to  the  same  des- 
tination. 


When  I  Went  West. 

The  summit  of  the  butte  was  as  level  as  a  billiard 
table  and  stretched  out  like  an  immense  meadow 
covered  with  buffalo  grass.  This  made  an  ideal 
race  course. 

The  races  were  *' straight  away/'  and  the  dis- 
tances, quarter  of  a  mile,  half  a  mile  and  one  mile, 
were  marked  by  wooden  pegs. 

The  weather  was  very  beautiful,  not  too  hot  nor 
yet  too  cool;  the  atmosphere  was  clear  and  exhilar- 
ating. We  arrived  on  the  top  some  time  before  the 
races  started,  and  this  gave  us  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity of  watching  the  crowd  coming  towards  the 
butte  from  the  town.  We  stood  on  the  brink  of  this 
steep  hill,  about  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  the 
sight  of  the  moving  cavalcade  of  enthusiastic  people 
down  below  was  a  very  interesting  spectacle.  Now 
the  cowboys  came  trooping  up  dressed  in  their  most 
attractive  style.  With  them  came  a  number  of 
ladies,  also  mounted  like  the  cowboys.  Then  came 
a  long  string  of  vehicles  of  all  kinds,  all  moving 
along  at  a  very  brisk  pace. 

By  this  time  the  signal  was  given  that  the  races 
were  about  to  start.  This  threw  the  ranchmen,  the 
cowboys,  yes,  even  the  ponies,  into  a  greater  state 
of  excitement  than  they  had  been  before.    Every- 


The  Fourth  of  July. 

body  except  the  ponies  was  now  betting  on  the 
result  of  the  first  race. 

Finally  the  animals  that  were  to  be  in  the  contest 
lined  up.  Then  down  the  course  they  came,  their 
riders  yelling  as  only  cowboys  can  yell,  and  the 
crowd  shouting  to  encourage  them  in  their  efforts. 
The  riders  were  "quirting"  the  ponies  at  every 
jump. 

Many  of  the  races  had  to  be  run  over  a  second 
time  before  a  decision  was  arrived  at,  and  thus  the 
noise  and  excitement  was  kept  up  incessantly  until 
the  last  race  was  over. 

When  this  part  of  the  program  had  been  finished, 
Big  Pete  requested  the  crowd  to  follow  him  back  into 
Medora  to  attend  the  balance  of  the  entertainment. 

This  was  done,  and  when  we  got  back  into  the 
town  we  saw  the  base  ball  game,  a  foot  race,  a 
potato  race  and  the  climbing  of  the  greased  pole. 
The  base  ball  game  was  played  by  a  team  from 
Sentinel  Butte  and  the  Medora  nine.  The  Sentinels 
had  ridden  seventy-five  miles  to  take  part  in  this 
sport,  and  after  the  game  was  over — they,  by  the 
way,  being  defeated — ^the  Sentinels  rode  back  to 
their  homes  that  night. 


When  I  Wknt  Wkst. 

When  the  outdoor  amusements  were  over  the  sun 
was  sinking  in  the  West,  and  most  of  the  holiday- 
makers  were  ready  for  the  grand  ball.  But  I  did 
not  stay  for  that,  and  so  I  am  not  able  to  give  you  a 
description  thereof. 

We  returned  to  Custer  Trail  that  evening,  and 
the  following  day  we  settled  down  to  a  regular 
every-day  life  on  the  ranch.  Sometimes  we  would 
go  on  long  excursions  out  on  the  trail  to  Dutchmans' 
Barn  Butte,  to  Chimney  Butte  and  other  points  of 
interest  in  the  neighborhood.  The  weather  was 
generally  very  pleasant,  and  although  the  ther- 
mometer was  often  a  hundred  degrees  in  the  shade, 
the  nights  were  always  cool. 


VIII. 
ON    THE    PRAIRIE 


TT  .BOUT  the  middle  of  July  it  was  proposed  that 
1^      we  make  a  trip  across  the  prairie  to  the 
\^^  Sioux   Indian   Reservation,   located    at   the 
Standing  Rock  Agency,  Fort  Yates.     This  is 
on  the  Big  Missouri  river,  about  two  hundred  miles  in 
a  southeasterly  direction  from  Medora,  and  seventy- 
five  miles  below  Bismarck.     We  were  told  that  at 
certain   periods  of  the   year   the    Indians    receive 
rations  from  the  government,  and  it  was  intimated 
to  us,  if  we  started  right  then,  we  could  get  to  Fort 
Yates  about  the  time  of  the  Indians'  arrival  for  their 
allowance  of  meat  and  provisions. 

The  prospect  appealed  to  us  very  strongly,  be- 
cause, while  the  distribution  of  rations  to  the  Red 
Men  was  to  us  a  novel  spectacle  in  itself,  and  for 
that  reason  of  especial  interest,  we  also  promised 
ourselves  much  fun  and  entertainment  from  the  ride 
across  the  prairie.-  The  expedition  being  arranged 
for,  preparations  for  the  journey  immediately  be- 
gan. 


When  I  Went  West. 

You  must  understand  that  these  preparations  were 
of  no  insignificant  consideration,  as  you  will  see. 
There  were  thirty-five  of  us  in  the  party,  including 
the  boys.  It  was  calculated  that  it  would  take  about 
a  week  to  get  to  Fort  Yates,  and  as  we  did  not 
expect  to  pass  through  any  town  or  settlement, 
where  we  might  be  able  to  make  purchases,  or 
where  we  could  stop  for  the  night,  we  had  to  pro- 
vide ourselves  with  all  the  necessaries  of  life  that  we 
might  want,  including  a  supply  of  provisions  for  all 
of  us,  as  well  as  beds. 

When  we  started,  our  caravan  was  composed  of 
the  following:  Mr.  Alden  Eaton,  one  of  our  hosts, 
led  the  *'outfif  as  the  guide,  and  he  was  the  man 
in  charge.  Out  of  the  thirty-five  persons  in, the 
party  thirty  were  mounted.  We  had  two  wagons, 
one  to  carry  the  beds  and  the  other  for  the  prov- 
ender. The  first  was  called  the  bed-wagon,  and 
the  second  the  mess- wagon.  We  took  eighty -five 
horses  or  ponies.  Each  rider  had  two,  one  for  every 
other  day,  and  the  wagon  teams  were  changed  the 
same  way. 

The  bed-wagon  contained  a  small  tent  for  the 
cook  and  some  thirty  *'  tarps.'*  Tarps  is  an  abbre- 
viation  of  the  word  tarpaulins.     They    measured 


'^ 

.i 
1 

1 

Li^^^jjt^ 

■***■ 

""f****— igj^ 

^raB 

iC 

■MMH 

• 

'^  w^B 

^^^H 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 

^<^^ 

■ 

^^^■^^H 

MM 

*"  \^3 

1 

1 

Sioux  Indians,  Standing  Rock  Agency. 


On  the   Prairie. 

10x15  feet,  and  they  were  used  as  beds  in  the  follow- 
ing manner:  Two  men  had  one  tarp  between  them 
which  they  would  spread  on  the  ground.  Then  two 
or  three  blankets  would  be  placed  on  the  top  of  the 
tarpaulin  in  lieu  of  mattresses  and  sheets.  After 
that  you  laid  two  or  three  more  blankets  over  this, 
which  formed  the  covering,  and  over  that  came 
another  tarp. 

We  had  war-bags  with  us,  which  contained  such 
change  of  clothing  as  we  deemed  advisable  to  take 
along,  and  these  war-bags  we  used  as  pillows. 

I  ought  to  say  here  that  our  outfit  was  very  com- 
plete in  every  detail,  and  somewhat  better  than  what 
is  generally  carried  by  the  men  who  are  inured  to 
Western  life  and  Western  country,  and,  as  it  were, 
are  to  the  *'  manor  born/' 

The  mess-wagon  carried  a  stove,  all  the  necessary 
cooking  apparatus,  as  well  as  the  supply  of  pro- 
visions, which  I  can  assure  you  was  no  small  amount 
for  such  a  large  party.  Incidentally  I  will  say  that 
there  was  not  one  in  the  crowd  who  had  anything 
the  matter  with  his  appetite. 

Moving  along  we  formed  this  column:  Mr.  Alden 
Eaton  with  four  or  five  horsemen  rode  at  the  head 
and  showed  the  way.     About  half  a  mile  behind 

63 


When  I  Went  West. 

them  followed  the  mess-wagon,  accompanied  by 
another  detail  of  riders.  Then  perhaps  another  half 
mile  back  came  the  bed-wagon,  also  in  charge  of  a 
detail  of  four  or  five  horsemen.  At  last,  possibly  a 
mile  in  the  rear,  would  be  the  herd  of  extra  horses 
for  the  men  and  the  wagons.  This  detachment  was 
also  in  charge  of  a  number  of  men  who  were  held 
responsible  for  them,  and  see  to  it  that  none  would 
go  astray. 

In  this  manner  our  outfit  stretched  along  over  the 
trail  for  a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles,  and  the 
alkali  dust  kicked  up  by  each  detachment,  especi- 
ally by  the  horses  in  the  rear,  made  such  tremen- 
dous clouds  so  as  to  choke  anybody.  I  believe  it 
was  principally  on  account  of  this  enormous  amount 
of  dust  which  we  raised  that  the  column  was 
arranged  in  detachments,  separated  by  such  long 
distances. 

Not  long  after  we  had  started  away  from  Custer 
Trail  Ranch  a  terrible  rainstorm  came  up  very  sud- 
denly, like  they  do  out  in  that  country  occur  very 
often.  But  we  had  gone  too  far  to  turn  back,  and 
so  we  went  on  through  the  rain. 

About  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  crossed 
the  border  of  the  Bad  Lands  and  entered  upon  the 

64 


On  thb   Prairie. 

prairie,  where  we  soon  after  discovered  a  small 
spring.  Since  water  is  a  necessary  adjunct  to  a 
camping  place,  and  as  it  is  a  commodity  not  to  be 
found  everywhere  on  the  prairie,  we  determined  to 
halt  here  for  the  night. 

The  going  into  camp  was  quite  an  event  for  me, 
and  an  experience  I  shall  never  forget.  As  one 
detachment  of  our  outfit  after  the  other  came  up  the 
horses  were  unsaddled  and  then  turned  loose  to 
herd.  A  detail  of  two  men  were  appointed  to  guard 
them  all  night  in  ''two  hour  watches.'* 

When  the  wagons  came  up  Bill  Jones,  our  cook, 
took  his  stove  and  kitchen  utensils  and  began  to  get 
supper.  What  a  job  this  was  it  will  not  be  difficult 
to  imagine  if  you  take  into  consideration  that  we 
were  about  as  hungry  a  lot  of  fellows  as  ever  there 
were  anywhere.  Thirty  miles  of  horseback  riding 
is  apt  to  make  anybody  hungry.  Then  we  must 
remember  our  schoolboys,  all  strong  and  healthy 
lads,  who  could  gormandize  like  veritable  Anacondas. 

While  the  cook  was  occupied  with  the  pots  and 
pans  the  rest  of  us  were  engaged  making  our  beds. 
It  was  the  duty  of  each  pair  of  sleeping  partners 
to  get  their  own  "tarps**  spread  out,  and  Bert 
and  I  were  doing  *'  stunts  "  as  chamber  maids  in  the 

66 


When  I  Went  Wesi*. 

most  approved  fashion.  Soon  our  beds  looked  very 
inviting. 

When  we  had  finished  that  part  of  our  work  we 
went  over  to  the  kitchen  to  get  our  tin  plate,  our 
knife,  fork,  spoon  and  a  tincup.  We  were  now 
ready  and  anxious  to  eat.  Imagine  therefore  our 
chagrin  when  we  found  that,  although  Jones  was 
working  away  for  dear  life,  there  was  still  nothing 
to  be  had.  We  soon  found  out  the  trouble,  how- 
ever. The  schoolboys,  or  '*kids,'*  as  we  called 
them,  were  so  hungry  that  they  made  up  their 
minds  not  to  bother  about  their  sleeping  accommo- 
dations until  they  had  satisfied  the  cravings  of  their 
voracious  appetites.  And  now  they  were  sitting 
around  the  kitchen  on  the  ground  watching  the  cook. 
Every  time  he  had  cooked  a  portion  he  would  yell 
at  them,  **Flyto  it!'*  and  the  boys  followed  his 
injunction  literally  by  making  one  grand  *' center 
rush  '*  at  him  whenever  he  had  a  plateful  ready. 

Still,  we  all  got  as  much  as  we  wanted,  and  no 
one  went  to  bed  hungry.  The  bill  of  fare  consisted 
of  fried  bacon,  baked  biscuits,  boiled  potatoes,  coffee 
and  butter;  and  although  I  have  sat  down  to  more 
sumptuous  meals  than  this  one,  I  never  enjoyed  one 
so  much  than  on  this  occasion  in  the  open  prairie, 


On   the  Prairie. 

with  the  green  ground  as  the  table  and  the  broad 
canopy  of  heaven  as  the  tablecloth. 

To  give  you  some  idea  of  the  quantity  of  food  we 
disposed  of  I  need  only  cite  one  item,  viz.,  bacon, 
thirty  pounds.  A  healthy  appetite  we  had,  don't 
you  think  so.? 

By  nine  o'clock  we  had  all  crawled  under  our 
**tarps,"  and  soon  the  camp  was  as  quiet  and 
death-like  as  a  graveyard.  This  silence  oppressed 
me  somewhat  at  first,  but  I  was  so  tired  that  I  soon 
got  used  to  it  and  was  asleep  with  the  rest. 


IX. 
FOLLOWING   THE   TRAIL* 


IF  we  had  been  told  before  we  started  on  our  jour- 
ney over  the  prairie  that  we  should  have  to  bear 
hardships,  privations  and  discomforts,  we  most 
likely  would  have  shrugged  our  shoulders  disdain- 
fully and  gone  just  the  same.  And  now  that  it  is  all 
over  and  I  can  calmly  reflect  upon  the  past  in  a  dis- 
passionate manner,  thinking  of  all  our  experiences, 
the  bitter  as  well  as  the  sweet,  I  must  say  that  I  am 
glad  that  I  went.  But  in  spite  of  this  I  can  assure 
you  there  were  often  moments  during  that  trip  to 
Fort  Yates  when  I  wished  myself  anywhere  rather 
than  where  I  was.  Horseback  riding  is  exhilarating 
exercise,  and  I  am  passionately  fond  of  it.  Travel- 
ing has  always  been  my  delight,  because  I  rejoice  in 
seeing  strange  lands  and  scenes,  but  when  it  comes 
to  traveling  on  horseback  through  the  prairie  in 
cloudy  billows  of  akali  dust  that  almost  choke  you, 
not  a  house  or  a  tree  within  sight,  the  sun  beating 
down  upon  you  with  an  intensity  of  at  least  one 
hundred    and    twenty-five    degrees    Fahrenheit,   a 


FOLI^OWING    THE    TrAII.. 

breeze  blowing  across  your  face  like  the  blazing  heat 
from  a  furnace.  When  your  tongue  is  parched  to 
the  roof  of  your  mouth,  and  you  have  no  water  to 
drink,  nor  do  you  know  when  you  may  get  some, 
and  all  the  while  the  mosquitos  are  whizzing  around 
your  head  and  driving  you  nearly  frantic  if  you  sit 
down  for  a  few  moments  only;  under  such  condi- 
tions 1  aver  traveling  is  not  altogether  pleasant. 

After  having  made  this  little  disgression  we  will 
now  return  to  our  camp. 

In  the  morning  we  were  awake  about  four  o'clock. 
While  the  cook  started  the  fire  to  get  breakfast  we 
proceeded  to  wash  ourselves  from  the  meagre  supply 
of  water.  Our  "  tarps  "  we  rolled  up  and  put  them 
into  the  bed-wagon.  The  horses  were  driven  into  a 
rope  corral,  and  those  to  be  used  that  day  were 
caught  up.  Everybody  saddled  and  bridled  his  own 
horse,  and  by  seven  o'clock  all  were  ready  to  start. 
In  counting  our  horses  we  found  seven  had  strayed 
away  in  the  night,  in  spite  of  the  care  taken  by  the 
horse  wranglers  to  keep  them  together.  They  had 
gone  to  the  H.  T.  Ranch  some  seventy -five  miles 
away,  where  the  leader  of  them,  called  "  Hodan,'* 
had  been  raised.     Here  we  afterwards  found  them. 


When  I  Wknt  West. 

Our  journey  now  took  us  over  the  Black  Hills 
Trail,  passing  through  fine  pastures  and  just  outside 
of  the  Bad  Lands,  which  were  on  our  right.  At 
noon  we  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  Cannon  Ball 
river,  where  our  horses  were  turned  out  to  herd 
while  we  had  lunch.  At  two  o'clock  we  caught  up 
our  horses  again,  loaded  the  mess-wagon  and  fol- 
lowed the  same  trail.  The  whole  country,  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach,  was  a  rolling  prairie,  wild 
flowers  on  all  sides,  but  no  other  signs  of  life. 
About  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  came  to  the 
White  Ranch  on  Cedar  Creek  and  went  into  camp 
for  the  night.  Here  we  had  a  good  spring  of  water 
and  an  excellent  camping  ground,  but  the  mosquitos 
were  numerous  and  busy.  To  escape  the  objection- 
able familiarity  of  these  insects  we  got  into  our 
**tarps''  and  covered  our  heads  immediately  after 
supper.  We  left  here  at  eight  o'clock  the  following 
morning,  but  before  we  got  started  we  had  some 
difficulty  harnessing  the  bronchos. 

We  stopped  for  lunch  at  Rainy  Butte,  where  we 
found  a  spring  of  very  delicious  water.  The  boys 
had  some  fun  here  with  a  bull  snake  that  was  eight 
feet  long.  They  killed  it  eventually.  These  snakes 
are  common  on  the  prairie,  and  they  are  not  veno- 


On  the  Way  to  Indian  Reservation. 


FoivLOWING    THE    TrAIL. 

mous.  The  day  was  extremely  hot,  and  as  we 
understood  that  we  should  find  no  water  on  the  trail 
until  we  came  to  Sherman  Ranch,  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles,  we  supplied  ourselves  with  water  in 
all  the  kegs  and  bottles  that  were  available.  But 
the  oppressive  heat  made  us  very  thirsty.  The 
alkali  dust  burned  our  faces,  and  before  we  had 
traveled  many  miles  our  supply  of  water  was  ex- 
hausted. Then  we  lost  our  trail,  and  in  trying  to 
find  it  again  we  came  across  several  places  which 
looked  as  if  they  contained  drinkable  water,  but 
upon  investigation  they  turned  out  to  be  cow-wal- 
lows. With  the  thirst,  the  heat  and  the  disappoint- 
ments, most  of  us  felt  miserable.  But  not  so  the 
*'  kids.'*  Some  of  these  cow -wallows  were  teeming 
with  snakes,  and  ignoring  their  physical  sufferings, 
the  schoolboys  jumped  off  their  ponies  and  managed 
to  have  a  wondeiful  amount  of  fun  with  these  rep- 
tiles.    Such  is  youth. 

Fortunately  our  misery  ended  at  last.  We  dis- 
covered our  trail  again  and  reached  the  Sherman 
Ranch  and  our  camping  place  about  six  o'clock.  It 
had  been  a  hard  day,  and  I  heard  no  complaint  of 
sleeplessness  that  night. 


When  I  Went  Wkst. 

The  settlers  at  the  Sherman  Ranch  were  Russians, 
and  as  they  could  not  speak  English  our  intercourse 
with  them  was  of  necessity  very  limited.  When 
we  left  there  the  following  morning  at  eight  o'clock 
it  was  already  very  hot,  with  every  indication  that 
the  blazing  intensity  of  the  previous  day  was  to  be 
our  lot  again.  Our  progress  under  these  conditions 
was  not  very  rapid,  and  when  noon  came  we  deter- 
mined to  halt  and  lunch  on  the  prairie.  But  who 
would  want  to  eat  in  that  heat.?  Hunger,  in  fact,  did 
not  worry  us  at  all.  It  was  shade  we  wanted  and 
water.  But  even  while  we  were  suffering  the 
agonies  of  thirst  our  spirits  never  flagged.  And 
that  under  these  trying  circumstances  our  sense 
of  the  ludicrous  had  not  altogether  left  us  was 
proved  when  one  of  our  party  blurted  out  as  well  as 
his  parched  lips  would  let  him,  'Td  give  ten  dol- 
lars for  a  bottle  of  beer!"  All  who  heard  him 
laughed  and  said  that  they'd  make  it  twenty  dollars. 

Suddenly,  I  do  not  remember  how  it  happened, 
some  one  discovered  that  there  was  a  ranch  two 
miles  off.  As  this  announcement  inferred  the  pros- 
pect of  water,  we  forgot  all  else  in  our  anxiety  to  be 
off.  Our  efforts  were  rewarded,  because  we  found 
good  water  at  this  ranch,  and  taking  an  extra  supply 

•2 


FOI.I.OWING    THK    TrAII.. 

with  us  we  continued  our  journey  until  evening, 
when  we  camped  on  Cedar  Creek.  At  Cedar  Creek 
we  had  a  great  treat.  We  indulged  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  our  first  bath  since  leaving  Custer  Trail 
Ranch.  How  we  revelled  in  that  luxury  you  may 
well  imagine.  It  improved  everyone's  spirits,  and 
after  supper  we  sat  about  on  the  ground  for  hours 
listening  to  the  reminiscences  of  Bill  Jones,  oyr  cook. 


X 

A   WESTERN   CHARACTER. 


SILL  JONES  bore  the  distinction  from  any  other 
individual  of  that  name  by  being  familiarly 
known  as  '*  Foul-Mouthed'*  Bill  Jones.  And 
never  was  nickname  more  deservedly  bestowed  than 
in  this  particular  instance.  He  swore  incessantly; 
in  fact  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  make  the  most 
ordinary  statement  without  introducing  it  by  an 
oath  or  else  bringing  in  one  of  his  choicest  epithets 
at  the  tail  end. 

When  I  met  him  he  was  about  sixty  years  of  age, 
and  by  his  own  account  he  had  been  living  in  the 
West  for  the  last  thirty -five  years.  Where  he  orig- 
inally came  from  no  one  seemed  to  know,  and  upon 
this  point  alone  Bill  Jones  religiously  held  his  own 
council.  I  have  always  honored  him  for  his  reticence 
about  the  place  of  his  youth,  because  even  Paradise 
would  have  been  polluted  if  Bill  Jones  had  said  he 
came  from  there. 

When  he  reached  the  West  for  the  first  time  he 
got  a  place  as  driver  with  the  government  surveying 

64 


'filVL,  JONBS. 


When  I  Went  West. 

party,  which  surveyed  the  Northern  Pacific  railroad. 
Subsequently  he  became  a  stage  driver,  then  a  guard 
of  the  Black  Hills  stage,  then  a  cowboy,  a  ranchman 
and  at  last  a  sheriff. 

At  this  period  must  have  been  the  zenith  of  his 
career,  because  after  that  he  became  a  gambler,  a 
miner,  a  steamboatman,  a  buffalo  hunter  and  a  gen- 
eral '*  rounder.'*  He  has  no  regular  occupation  now, 
and  people  merely  give  him  employment  from  a 
motive  of  charity. 

At  last  accounts  I  heard  of  Bill  Jones  in  California. 
Indeed,  as  you  will  see  farther  on,  he  went  there 
with  our  party  when  we  took  a  trip  into  the  *'  Yel- 
lowstone." 

Stripping  his  narratives  of  their  oaths  and  vulgar, 
often  blasphemous  appendages,  Bill  Jones  could  tell 
some  good  stories;  and  while  it  may  be  that  he 
sometimes  stretched  the  truth,  or  indulged  in  prevar- 
ications in  order  to  surround  his  own  deeds  with  the 
glamour  of  the  heroic  and  romantic,  his  experiences 
were  quite  interesting. 

To  the  student  his  racontations  might  be  valuable, 
inasmuch  as  they  would  form  a  good  illustration  of 
life  and  character  in  the  West  at  a  period  when  vice 
and  lawlessness  were  rampant  in  those  countries. 


A  Wkstbrn  Character. 

How  many  men  Bill  Jones  has  killed  in  his  days  it 
would  be  hard  to  estimate,  but  from  the  scraps  of 
history,  as  told  by  himself  and  what  I  learned  from 
others  who  had  known  him  for  years,  his  victims 
must  have  been  many. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  a  terrible  des- 
perado when  he  was  in  his  prime,  as  some  of  the 
accounts  of  his  experiences  would  show. 

Medora,  the  capital  of  Billings  county,  was  founded 
by  a  wealthy  Frenchman,  the  Marquis  De  Mores, 
who  had  married  a  rich  American  girl.  This  mar- 
quis was  fertile  in  the  conception  of  commercial 
schemes,  and  one  of  his  theories  was,  that  instead 
of  having  the  cattle  from  the  Western  ranches 
brought  to  abattoirs  and  slaughterhouses  in  the 
East,  they  should  be  in  the  West.  It  was  this  idea 
which  brought  him  to  Medora,  and  he  erected  an 
abattoir  which  was  the  most  complete  establishment 
of  its  kind.  It  is  standing  yet.  He  also  built  him- 
self a  palace  in  Medora  to  superintend  his  opera- 
tions personally.  Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short, 
the  project  did  not  work,  and  the  Marquis  De  Mores 
quit  the  West  under  the  ruins  of  his  extravagant 
venture. 


Whkn  I  Went  West. 

But  while  these  operations  were  going  on  Medora 
enjoyed  quite  a  boom  and  many  people  were  attracted 
to  the  place.  At  this  time  the  town  had  over  three 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  it  was  about  as  '*  hot "  a 
**  joint'*  as  could  be  found  in  the  West.  Gambling, 
vice  and  lawlessness  of  every  description  were  the 
order  of  the  day,  and  the  respectable  element  of  the 
population  was  forced  to  establish  a  **  Kangaroo 
Court'*  to  protect  themselves  from  the  many  bad 
characters  of  the  town. 

In  those  days  of  Medora's  prime  Bill  Jones  was  a 
very  prominent  character. 

Once  some  one  placed  Bill  in  charge  of  a  couple 
of  young  bears  which  he  succeeded  in  taming,  and 
after  awhile  the  two  animals  became  so  attached  to 
him  that  he  rarely  went  anywhere  without  being 
accompanied  by  his  four-footed  charges.  When  the 
trains  came  into  Medora  station  Jones  was  always  to 
be  seen  on  the  platform  with  his  two  bears  behind 
him.  But  the  spirit  for  mischief  was  in  him  one  day 
and  he  went  with  his  bears  through  the  train.  The 
commotion  they  raised  among  the  passengers  was 
terrible.  Children  screamed,  women  fainted  and 
men  jumped  out  of  the  windows,  scared  almost  to 
death  by  the  big  brutes.     But  Bill  calmly  walked  out 


Morning  Scene.    Camp  at  "Dairy,"  Yei*i,owstone. 


A  Western  Character. 

of  the  cars  with  his  two  bears  and  returned  to  town 
as  if  nothing  had  occurred  that  he  had  been  inter- 
ested in.  However,  he  had  greatly  enjoyed  the 
*'fun/*  as  he  called  it,  and  so  had  the  other  natives. 
So  after  that  it  became  a  regular  performance  for  the 
bears,  with  Bill  Jones  at  their  heads,  to  go  through 
all  the  passenger  trains  that  came  into  Medora. 

This  kept  on  for  a  long  time,  until  at  last  some  one 
lodged  a  complaint  with  the  railroad  company,  and 
then  the  management  armed  the  conductors  with 
revolvers  and  issued  orders  to  them  to  shoot  anyone 
who  dared  to  bring  live  bears  into  the  train  at 
Medora.  Of  course  this  spoiled  Bill  Jones*  little 
frolic  for  the  future. 

There  is  another  story  they  tell  of  him  which 
shows  what  a  dare-devil  spirit  he  was  when  younger, 
and  it  also  proves  that  he  must  have  been  a  dead 
shot. 

He  was  in  one  of  the  local  dives  in  Medora  one 
day  with  a  lot  of  other  cowboys  when  a  stranger 
came  in  who  looked  the  typical  tender-foot.  The 
stranger  walked  up  to  the  bar  and  asked  for  a  bottle 
of  beer  while  the  crowd  sat  around  watching  him. 
The  beer  was  handed  to  the  guest,  and  he  had  put 


When  I  Went  West. 

the  bottle  to  his  mouth  to  drink  when  Bill  Jones 
said  to  his  chums: 

'*  Watch  me  spoil  the  fellow's  beer.**  With  these 
words  he  whipped  out  his  pistol,  a  report  was  heard, 
and  the  bullet  passed  clean  through  the  neck  of 
the  bottle  between  the  man's  hand  and  his  lips. 
For  a  moment  the  stranger  was  dazed,  but  he  evi- 
dently was  not  the  tender-foot  he  looked,  because  as 
he  turned  towards  the  crowd  and  observed  the  re- 
volver in  Jones*  hand,  he  quietly  remarked: 

**  Say,  my  friend,  you  have  spoiled  my  drink,  and 
ril  oblige  you  to  buy  me  a  new  one.** 

This  nerve  and  coolness  of  the  man  pleased  Bill  so 
much  that  he  got  up,  shook  hands  with  him  and  told 
him  to  go  ahead  and  order  all  the  drinks  he  wanted, 
and  that  he  would  pay  for  them. 

But  Bill  Jones  is  not  that  kind  of  a  man  any  more 
to-day.  He  is  old,  his  strength  is  gone,  and  the  con- 
ditions have  changed  in  the  West  considerably  since 
the  time  when  such  characters  were  allowed  to 
flourish  and  terrorize  respectable  society.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  said  that  Bill  Jones  is  one  of  the  last  of  a 
dying  race  of  men;  a  race,  the  representatives  of 
which  were  years  ago  to  be  found  throughout  the 
West,  in  the  mining  camps,  among  the  cowboys,  in 

70 


A  Western  Character. 

the  towns  and  on  the  prairie.  However,  the  ever- 
onward  march  of  civilization  and  the  arm  of  the  law, 
which  is  now  reaching  out  farther  and  surer  in  this 
country  than  ever  before,  are  tolling  the  death-knell 
to  Bill  Jones  and  his  *'  ken.'* 

In  our  outfit  Jones  was  constantly  at  loggerheads 
with  the  schoolboys,  whom  he  detested.  In  this, 
however,  I  must  say  he  was  not  so  much  at  fault  as 
the  *'  kids,"  because  they  took  particular  delight  in 
teasing  and  worrying  the  old  man  into  exasperation. 
The  practical  jokes  they  played  upon  him,  whenever 
they  had  an  opportunity,  were  enough  to  try  the 
patience  of  Job,  and  it  was  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  he  would  swear  at  them  on  all  occasions. 

During  our  trip  to  Fort  Yates,  while  we  were 
resting  on  the  prairie  at  Goose's  School  House, 
because  the  heat  was  so  oppressive  that  even  the 
horses  seemed  to  be  played  out,  these  boys,  who 
seemed  to  be  proof  against  all  the  elements,  concocted 
a  plan  which  nearly  drove  Bill  Jones  mad.  Some 
of  them  absented  themselves  for  a  few  minutes  and 
then  suddenly  came  back  with  the  tale  of  having  dis- 
covered a  spring  in  a  dugout  in  the  rear  of  the 
school  house.  Of  course  we  all  knew  it  was  a 
hoax,  but  Bill  took  the  bait  and  went  off  in  quest  of 

71 


water.  He  searched  and  searched  in  the  boiling 
sun  and  under  the  fierce  waftings  of  the  hot  breeze 
to  find  that  spring,  but  in  vain.  At  last  he  came 
back,  and  I  can  assure  you  there  was  **  sulphur "  in 
the  air  when  he  got  through  delivering  himself  of  his 
wrath  upon  the  "  kids.*' 


72 


XI. 
PRAIRIE,   PRAIRIE,   PRAIRIE! 


*TTjT  EIGHT  o'clock  the  next  morning  we  left  our 
l/Y  camp  knowing  that  we  had  another  hot  day 
I  1  before  us.  At  noon  we  camped  again  on 
Cedar  Creek.  It  had  been  our  intention 
to  stop  here  for  lunch  only,  but  the  animals  as  well 
as  ourselves  were  played  out  to  such  an  extent  that 
we  made  up  our  minds  to  stay  until  the  next  day. 
There  was  not  an  opposing  voice  to  this  proposition. 

Our  camp  was  in  a  nice  stretch  of  meadow  land, 
where  we  put  up  our  cook  tent  and  spread  out  our  fly 
to  find  under  its  shade  some  relief  from  the  extreme 
heat.  In  the  evening  we  all  enjoyed  the  luxury  of 
another  bath.  But  after  supper  the  mosquitos  be- 
came so  bad  that  we  had  to  hunt  the  cover  of  our 
tarps  to  escape  them. 

In  all  our  travels  this  far  we  had  not  found  a  single 
tree  to  afford  us  the  least  shade.  Wherever  the 
eye  would  turn  it  was  all  prairie,  prairie,  prairie. 

The  next  morning  found  us  much  refreshed  from 
our   long  rest,  and  this  was  well,  for  we  antici- 

78 


Whkn  I  Went  West. 

pated  a  long  and  waterless  journey.  Our  plans 
were  to  cover  that  day  twenty-five  miles,  which 
would  land  us  for  the  next  camping  ground  on  the 
Indian  Reservation. 

When  we  departed  from  the  banks  of  the  Cedar 
Creek  we  laid  in  an  extra  supply  of  water.  But 
although  we  hoped  that  we  had  taken  abundantly  it 
was  as  usual,  very  soon  all  gone,  and  the  moment 
we  knew  there  was  no  more  to  drink  our  thirst 
became  greater.  For  the  following  five  hours  we 
had  a  terrible  experience.  Our  lips  were  as  dry  as 
parchment,  and  the  agonies  of  thirst  increased  with 
every  moment.  Blessed  was  the  man  who  chewed 
tobacco,  because  he  seemed  to  be  able  to  endure  the 
want  of  water  much  better  than  any  of  the  others. 
Some  of  us  canvassed  the  outfit  for  *'  chewing  gum," 
but  there  was  none  to  be  had.  There  was  not  even 
a  pebble  to  be  found  anywhere  which  we  might  have 
put  into  our  parched  mouths  to  chew  upon. 

To  add  to  our  disappointments  the  prairie  here 
was  quite  deceptive  in  its  undulations.  Every  ridge 
we  saw  on  the  horizon  we  believed  would  bring  us 
again  to  the  brink  of  Cedar  Creek,  but  like  the  cable 
cars  in  San  Francisco,  there  always  seemed  to  be 
one  more  hill  before  we  reached  the  top. 

74 


Prairie,   Prailie,  Prairie. 

At  one  o'clock  in  the  day  we  did  at  last  arrive 
on  the  summit,  and  away  off  to  the  right  we  dis- 
cerned a  few  brushes,  where  we  were  told  Cedar 
Creek  would  be.  At  this  announcement  a  number 
of  us  galloped  off,  and  in  his  anxiety  to  get  to  the 
water  one  of  our  party  plunged  into  a  bed  of  quick- 
sand. Horse  and  rider  were  soon  almost  submerged 
and  we  had  an  awful  time  getting  him  out.  First 
we  pulled  the  man  out  of  the  saddle,  then  we  took 
the  saddle  off  the  horse,  and,  putting  a  rope  around 
the  animal,  we  also  got  it  upon  firm  ground 
after  much  exertion.  When  we  were  over  this 
trouble  the  leaders  of  our  four-in-hand  ran  away, 
and  it  took  us  some  time  to  recapture  them.  And 
all  this  while  the  heat  was  intense  and  our  sufferings 
from  thirst  became  harder  than  ever  to  bear. 

But  now  we  saw  away  off  on  our  left  an  old  mud 
shack,  and  as  we  were  told  that  the  creek  was 
near  it,  we  again  made  a  dash  for  the  promised 
water.  Happily  in  this  instance  our  information  was 
correct.  After  riding  along  as  hard  as  we  could  we 
saw  a  small  stream  with  a  few  bushes  on  either  side. 
Arriving  at  the  brink  we  jumped  off  our  horses,  and 
while  the  sagacious  animals  waded  into  the  water  we 
laid  ourselves  flat  on  our  stomachs,  drinking  and 

76 


When  I  Went  West. 

drinking.  The  water  was  somewhat  warm,  it  is 
true,  but  it  was  clear,  and,  above  all,  it  was  water. 
It  was  so  good  1  can  taste  it  yet. 

In  the  meantime  the  balance  of  our  outfit  had  also 
come  up,  and  it  was  not  long  until  all  of  us  were 
refreshed  at  this  welcome  stream. 

At  this  point  Cedar  Creek  divided  North  Dakota 
from  the  Indian  Reservation,  and  as  we  decided  to 
camp  in  the  latter  territory,  the  whole  outfit  crossed 
to  the  other  side.  Then  we  rested,  the  cook  putting 
up  his  tent,  erecting  his  stove  and  starting  to  get  us 
something  to  eat. 

Here  we  experienced  the  greatest  heat  during  the 
entire  trip.  The  thermometer  was  one  hundred  and 
four  degrees  in  the  shade.  The  irons  on  our  stir- 
rups were  so  hot  that  to  touch  them  would  almost 
burn  one's  hands.  There  was  a  hot  wave  sweeping 
across  the  prairie  like  the  heat  of  a  blast  furnace, 
and  the  dust  was  filled  with  alkali,  so  that  our  faces 
were  burned  as  if  by  fire.  In  vain  we  made  every 
possible  effort  to  get  relief  from  the  hot  rays  of  the 
sun.  Some  sat  on  the  ground  and  put  their  heads 
into  the  shadow  of  the  ponies.  Others  tried  to  find 
shelter  beneath  some  small  bushes  which  grew  near 
by.     As  many  as  could  find  room  crawled  underneath 

76 


OivD  Faithful"  in  the  Yei*w>wstonb, 


Prairik,  Prairie,  Prairib. 

the  wagon.  But  it  was  all  to  very  little  purpose. 
Suddenly  an  awful  stillness  seemed  to  overcome  the 
whole  camp  which  affected  me  very  strangely. 
There  was  no  noise  or  sound  of  any  kind,  no  ani- 
mal to  be  seen  or  heard.  I  became  alarmed  at  this 
sensation,  and  in  spite  of  my  sufferings  with  the 
heat  I  arose  from  the  ground.  To  break  the  terrible 
monotony  with  the  patter  of  the  horse's  hoofs,  the 
champing  of  the  bit  and  the  creaking  of  the  saddle,  I 
mounted,  but  I  now  felt  the  heat  worse  than  ever, 
and  before  Fong  I  was  forced  to  get  off  the  horse 
again. 

What  was  my  amazement,  however,  when  at 
about  three  o'clock,  two  hours  after  we  had  arrived 
here,  I  observed  that  the  rope  corral  was  being  put 
up,  a  sure  sign  that  we  were  breaking  camp. 


77 


XII. 
JOHN  GRCXJAN'S  HOSPITALITY* 


I  WAS  practically  worn  out,  and  when  I  saw  these 
preparations  which  meant  that  we  were  going 
on  to  the  next  camp,  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles,  1  began  to  shudder  at  the  prospect,  and  I 
wondered  how  I  might  escape  it.  Then  I  bethought 
me  of  the  old  mud  shack,  which  we  had  left  not  long 
ago,  and  I  determined  to  go  back  there  and  stay 
until  I  had  somewhat  recovered  from  the  terrible 
heat,  that  seemed  to  have  made  me  unfit  for  the 
time  to  continue  the  journey.  One  of  our  party, 
"Arbie,**  to  whom  I  imparted  my  intention,  agreed 
to  go  with  me,  and  promising  the  rest  that  we  would 
follow  them  as  soon  as  possible,  we  waved  our 
hands  and  turned  back. 

In  anticipation  of  the  rest  and  comfort  that  was 
awaiting  us  at  the  shack,  we  hurried  on  at  our 
utmost  speed  and  soon  found  ourselves  at  our  desti- 
nation. After  we  had  put  up  our  horses  we  sat  down 
under  a  few  boards,  which  did  service  as  the  roof  of 
the  piazza  or  porch,  and  looking  up  the  trail  we  ob- 

78 


John  Grogan. 


When  I  Went  West. 

served  our  outfit  disappearing  over  the  brow  of  the 
distant  hill.  The  owner  of  the  place  was  apparently 
not  at  home,  and  so  we  made  ourselves  comfortable, 
awaiting  his  return. 

This  shack  looked  something  like  the  adobe 
houses  in  Mexico.  It  was  one  story  high,  had  three 
rooms  and  some  sort  of  an  attached  kitchen.  The 
furniture  was  not  very  elegant,  and  the  place  on  the 
whole  was  not  very  inviting,  but  just  now  it  was  as 
good  as  a  palace.  We  were  wondering  how  many 
people  lived  in  this  primitive  dwelling  on  the  lonely 
prairie,  at  least  twenty  miles  from  the  nearest  habi- 
tation. We  were  still  discussing  this  point  when  a 
man,  apparently  about  thirty-five  years  of  age, 
came  riding  up  to  the  house,  and  presuming  that  he 
was  the  owner,  one  of  us  said: 

"  We  have  come  to  camp  with  you." 

**  All  right,'*  he  replied,  and  after  having  put 
away  his  horses  he  came  back  to  us. 

**  Make  yourselves  at  home,*'  he  now  said  in  the 
most  pleasant  manner,  '*  while  I  go  and  '  rustle '  up 
some  supper." 

Not  wishing  to  disturb  him  in  this  occupation,  we 
got  up  and  walked  down  to  the  creek,  which  was  a 
little  ways  in  front  of  the  house.    We  had  been 


Grog  AN*  s  Hospitawty. 

away  long  enough  to  take  a  bath,  but  when  we  came 
back  the  savory  smell  of  the  cooking  told  us  that  our 
host  had  been  busy  during  our  absence.  Just  as 
we  reached  the  door  he  met  us  and  told  us  that 
supper  was  waiting. 

To  our  astonishment  we  found  two  more  guests 
inside,  an  old  gentleman  and  his  wife,  who  were 
traveling  from  Grand  River  to  Bismarck,  their 
home.  I  wondered  at  the  hardihood  and  energy 
of  this  old  couple  to  undertake  a  journey  like  that. 

Our  repast  was  a  very  pleasant  one.  The  vic- 
tuals of  our  host  were,  of  course,  of  ordinary  fare, 
but  they  tasted  exceedingly  well.  We  seemed  to  be 
all  good  talkers  and  the  conversation  never  flagged. 
The  old  gentleman  and  his  wife,  we  learned,  came 
originally  from  Crawford  County,  Pennsylvania, 
and  when  we  told  them  that  our  homes  were  in 
Pittsburg  we  soon  began  exchanging  reminiscences 
of  our  grand  state. 

After  supper  my  companion  and  1  felt  so  much 
better,  and  the  evening  was  so  pleasant,  that  we 
concluded  we  would  continue  our  journey  imme- 
diately and  catch  up  to  our  outfit  before  they  had 
gone  to  bed  in  their  camp.  When  We  apprised  our 
host  of  this  determination,  he  made  not  the  least  ob- 


When  I  Went  West. 

jection.  He  brought  our  horses  around,  and  we  also 
observed  that  he  had  one  for  himself. 

*'  You  don't  mean  to  say  you  are  going  with  us?'* 
we  asked  in  astonishment. 

*'Sure/'  he  replied.  ''It  is  twenty  miles  to  the 
camp,  and  you  would  never  find  it  by  yourselves.'* 

Of  course  we  did  not  feel  inclined  to  get  lost  on 
the  prairie,  and  although  we  were  sorry  that  we  had 
said  we  were  going  to  leave  him,  we  cheerfully  ac- 
cepted his  proposition. 

In  a  few  more  moments  we  were  off. 

Our  former  host  and  now  our  guide  proved  to  be 
a  remarkable  talker  while  in  the  saddle.  From  the 
time  we  left  his  shack  until  he  said  good-bye  to  us 
he  was  talking  without  interruption.  The  distance 
was,  as  I  said  before,  twenty  miles.  We  rode  hard 
and  it  only  took  us  about  two  hours.  During  that 
time  he  told  us  the  history  of  his  whole  life,  gave  us 
his  family  connections,  what  sort  of  people  they 
were,  and  a  thousand  and  other  things  he  spoke 
about  that  I  can  not  remember.  He  never  waited 
for  us  to  answer  him;  in  fact,  I  do  not  think  that  he 
expected  us  to  do  so,  and  hence  the  only  words 
either  of  us  said  all  the  way  were  **  Yes "  and 
''No/* 

82 


GrOGAN'S  HOSPITAI.ITY. 

At  last,  after  we  had  reached  the  summit  of  an- 
other ridge,  we  saw  a  light  at  a  distance  down  the 
valley.  It  was  the  first  light  seen  since  we  left 
the  shack.  Here  our  guide  suddenly  halted,  and 
we  did  the  same. 

**  Do  you  see  that  light  down  there?'*  he  asked  us. 

'*Yes."  The  habit  of  talking  in  monosyllables 
still  stuck  to  us. 

**  Well,  that  is  your  camp.     Can  you  find  it?** 

**Yes,**  again  we  said. 

**A11  right,  then;  good-night,**  and  wheeling 
about  on  his  horse  he  was  off,  back  to  his  home. 

This  incident  has  often  come  back  to  me,  and 
every  time  I  think  over  it  I  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  this  man's  treatment  of  us  on  that  occasion  was 
the  most  perfect  demonstration  of  disinterested  hos- 
pitality that  ever  was  bestowed  upon  a  man  by  one 
of  his  fellow-creatures. 

Just  consider  what  he  did. 

He  invited  us  into  his  house  without  asking  our 
names,  where  we  came  from,  where  we  were  going 
to.  He  gave  us  something  to  eat,  offered  to  take 
care  of  us  as  long  as  we  chose  to  stay,  and  then 
when  we  wanted  to  leave  he  saddled  our  horses, 
then  his  own,  and  rode  with  us  over  the  prairie  for 


When  I  Went  West. 

a  distance  of  twenty  miles,  which  meant  that  he  had 
to  return  by  himself  another  twenty.  And  when  he 
guided  us  practically  to  the  very  door  of  our  camp 
he  wheeled  around  as  quickly  as  he  could,  as  if  he 
feared  that  we  might  wish  to  thank  him  for  what  he 
had  done. 

That  was  John  Grogan,  the  Western  ranchman, 
and  I  take  off  my  hat  in  memory  of  him. 

When  we  rode  into  camp  everybody  had  gone  to 
bed,  and  as  I  observed  the  big  cloud  of  mosquitos 
that  was  settling  over  the  place  I  was  not  surprised. 
I  had  some  difificulty  in  finding  my  bed,  because  in 
the  night  tarps  are  like  cats,  they  all  look  alike.  We 
got  into  the  right  one,  however,  after  a  little  search- 
ing, and  it  was  not  much  later  than  eleven  o'clock 
when  we  went  to  sleep. 


M 


Paint  Pots  in  the  Yei*i.owston«. 


XIII. 
THE  NOBLE  RED  MAN  0), 


THE  next  day's  travel  was  very  much  like  the 
day  before,  only  the  sufferings  with  the 
heat  did  not  seem  to  affect  us  quite  so 
severely.  The  formation  of  the  country  was  some- 
what different  now,  it  being  more  hilly  than  on  the 
prairie.  In  our  march  we  appeared  to  be  climbing 
one  of  these  elevations  after  another  until  at  last  we 
reached  the  plateau,  and  here  we  were  on  the  same 
apparently  interminable  plain  which  we  had  tra- 
versed during  the  last  three  days. 

In  spite  of  our  precautions  in  supplying  ourselves 
with  a  large  quantity  of  water  when  we  departed 
from  our  camp  in  the  morning,  it  was  not  long  before 
the  kegs  and  bottles  were  all  empty,  and  the  agonies 
of  thirst  began  afresh.  Towards  noon  we  were  told 
that  we  should  find  some  water  at  a  place  close 
by,  called  "  Goose's  School  House  "  after  an  Indian 
chief.  We  actually  reached  the  school  building 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  but  the  water 
was  not  to  be  found.     You  can  imagine  how  this 


When  I  Went  West. 

disappointment  affected  us.  Here  we  were,  in  the 
heart  of  the  prairie,  our  faces  blistered  with  the 
heat,  our  mouths  parched  with  thirst,  and  no  pros- 
pects in  sight  for  any  relief.  We  sent  out  a  scout- 
ing party  after  water,  and  to  our  intense  satisfaction 
these  men  returned  after  awhile  from  their  search, 
reporting  that  a  spring  had  been  discovered  some 
distance  away  in  a  ''draw."  After  we  had  refreshed 
ourselves  we  felt  much  better,  and  as  we  were  now 
approaching  the  surroundings  of  the  Standing  Rock 
Agency,  it  was  determined  to  continue  our  march 
and  make  our  next  camp  as  near  to  the  Agency  as 
possible. 

From  the  Goose  School  House  our  road  led  again 
down  hill,  and  this  made  the  walking  much  easier 
for  the  horses.  Before  long  we  passed  several 
Indian  habitations,  a  welcome  sight  to  us,  because  it 
was  a  sure  indication  that  the  end  of  our  journey 
was  at  hand. 

About  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  entered  a 
long  winding  valley,  where  we  saw  a  large  number 
of  the  visiting  Indians,  who  had  evidently  thrown  up 
their  tepees  into  a  temporary  kraal  during  their  stay 
at  the  Agency. 


The  Noble  Red  Man. 

At  seven  o'clock  we  went  into  camp  near  the 
Government  Corral,  five  miles  from  Fort  Yates. 
We  were  delighted  to  find  some  good  water  here, 
because  we  had  traveled  thirty  miles  that  day,  and 
all  of  us  were  more  or  less  exhausted.  But  our 
troubles  were  not  all  over  yet.  There  were  millions 
of  mosquitos  around  our  camp,  and  although  we 
should  have  been  glad  of  getting  some  sleep  after  we 
had  our  supper,  these  insects  were  so  bad  that  even 
our  ''  tarps  *'  did  not  afford  us  the  usual  protection. 

During  the  night  a  regular  hurricane  of  a  wind- 
storm came  up,  and  although  it  blew  down  the 
cook's  tent,  we  did  not  mind  that,  because  the 
wind  also  drove  away  the  mosquitos. 

Soon  after  sunrise  the  following  morning  our 
camp  was  awake.  Not  much  time  was  spent  over 
breakfast,  because  most  of  us  were  anxious  to  see 
the  goings  on  among  the  Indians.  We  learned  that 
the  government  officials  were  going  to  distribute  one 
hundred  head  of  cattle  among  the  red  men.  These 
cattle  were  penned  up  in  the  corral  near  our  camp, 
and  true  enough  shortly  after  the  Indian  commis- 
sion was  seen  to  approach  the  corral.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  cattle  were  brought  forth  and  led  to  the 
slaughter-house.    Curious  to  see  all  the  proceedings, 


When  I  Wknt  West. 

most  of  the  members  in  our  outfit  followed.  At  the 
slaughter-house  a  wonderful  sight  presented  itself. 
We  saw  several  hundred  Indians  of  both  sexes  and 
all  ages,  as  well  as  dogs  and  ponies.  Their  cos- 
tumes were  very  conglomerate.  Some  of  the  men 
had  crowns  of  feathers  on  their  heads,  and  others 
were  dressed  in  the  garments  of  modern  civilization. 

The  cattle  were  driven  into  the  slaughter-house 
and  then  killed  by  Indian  police.  After  this  the 
beef  was  cut  in  small  strips  and  distributed  among 
the  Indians.  I  noticed  that  the  squaws  had  to  do 
the  work  of  carrying  the  rations  to  the  tepees,  while 
the  bucks  stood  around  talking  and  smoking. 

We  spent  the  whole  day  among  them,  taking  pho- 
tographs and  purchasing  some  of  their  trinkets,  of 
which  they  seemed  to  have  an  inexhaustive  supply. 

We  also  paid  a  visit  to  the  grave  of  Sitting  Bull, 
the  great  chief  of  the  Sioux. 

The  garrison  at  Fort  Yates  consisted  of  one  troop 
of  cavalry,  and  while  we  were  there  we  got  some- 
what acquainted  with  some  of  the  soldier  boys. 

Our  party  stayed  around  the  fort  for  several 
days,  seeing  whatever  there  was  interesting  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  enjoying  ourselves  in  many  other 
ways. 


Thb  Noble  Red  Man. 

At  last  the  question  of  going  home  again  came  up, 
and  as  some  of  us  had  still  a  very  vivid  recollection 
of  the  trials  and  hardships  they  had  to  go  through 
on  the  prairie,  they  did  not  display  much  enthusiasm 
for  a  return  trip  the  same  way.  Pour  or  five  of  the 
other  boys  and  myself  concluded  to  go  back  by  rail, 
while  the  rest  of  our  outfit  took  the  Cannon  Ball 
Trail  through  the  prairie,  which  for  the  greater  part 
followed  the  Cannon  Ball  River. 

The  return  journey  of  the  party  which  I  joined 
had  to  travel  by  stage  to  Bismarck,  a  distance  of 
seventy-five  miles,  and  an  exceedingly  long  trip  it 
seemed  to  be.  When  we  arrived  at  Bismarck  in  the 
evening  it  was  with  a  great  deal  of  rejoicing.  We 
stopped  at  the  Great  Northern  Hotel.  It  seemed  a 
funny  experience  to  sit  down  for  dinner  in  the  hotel 
dining  room  after  we  had  ** grubbed"  for  a  whole 
week  on  the  prairie,  and  the  prospect  of  sleeping 
once  more  in  a  proper  bed  was  so  alluring  that  we 
sought  rest  very  early. 

The  next  day  at  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.  we  departed 
for  Medora  on  the  train,  and  we  reached  there  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  In  about  two  more 
hours  we  were  back  at  Custer  Trail  Ranch,  where 
we  were  welcomed  by  all  with  the  characteristic 


Whkn  I  Wknt  West. 

hospitality  that  was   so  customary    among    those 
Western  people. 

The  party  having  taken  the  Cannon  Ball  route 
came  in  several  days  later  than  we  did,  but  none 
the  worse  for  the  trip.  Indeed,  not  one  of  the  entire 
outfit  felt  any  bad  effects  from  our  *'  jaunt  *'  to  Fort 
Yates,  and  we  all  agreed  that  the  experiences  we 
had  were  well  worth  the  hardships  we  suffered. 


Ed.  StJLiXY. 


XIV. 
INTO  YELLOWSTONE  PARK. 


NO  SOONER  had  we  settled  down  again  among 
the  familiar  scenes  of  the  ranch  when  the 
roving  spirit  once  more  overcame  us,  and 
this  time  we  decided  to  go  into  Yellowstone 
Park. 

Mr.  Howard  Eaton  promised  to  act  as  our  guide 
this  time,  and  once  it  was  settled  that  we  were  to 
go,  it  did  not  take  long  to  complete  the  preparations. 
As  the  Park  Reservation  does  not  begin  until  beyond 
Gardner,  which  is  upwards  of  six  hundred  miles 
west  of  Medora,  it  was  decided  to  go  that  far  by  rail. 
So  we  sent  our  horses  ahead  of  us  in  charge  of  Bill 
Jones,  our  old  cook,  with  injunctions  to  this  worthy 
that  he  was  to  await  our  coming  at  Cinnabar  Sta- 
tion. In  the  meantime  we  had  telegraphed  to  Ed- 
ward Staley,  a  well-known  mountain  guide  from 
Henry's  Lake,  Idaho,  to  make  all  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  the  mess-wagon  and  a  cook. 

Our  party  left  Custer  Trail  Ranch  early  in  August 
and  took  the  train  at  Medora  a  day  after  we  had 
sent  Jones  ahead  with  the  horses. 

92 


■M^lfa 


Grand  Canon  of  the  Yei,i,owstonk. 


Yei.i*owstone  Park. 

When  we  arrived  at  Cinnabar  we  found  every- 
thing awaiting  us  and  all  in  ship-shape  order.  This 
was  very  satisfactory  and  put  us  in  a  good 
humor  at  the  very  start.  There  was  Ed.  Staley, 
Jim  Lee,  the  cook,  as  well  as  the  mess-wagon,  and 
at  last  our  old  retainer  Bill  Jones.  I  asked  the 
latter  how  he  had  been  getting  along  while  waiting 
for  us,  and  he  replied  in  his  own  inimitable  way: 

*'  Fine,  sir;  I  was  drunk  twice  and  had  one  fight.** 

A  camping  trip  through  the  Yellowstone  is  a 
pleasure  jaunt  from  beginning  to  end.  In  this  re- 
spect it  differs  considerably  from  a  journey  across 
the  prairie.  As  is  well  known,  the  park  reservation 
is  under  government  supervision,  and  for  the  most 
part  the  going  is  very  good.  These  trips  have 
become  very  fashionable  of  late  years,  and  during 
the  season  we  were  there  we  constantly  met  parties 
the  same  as  ourselves,  going  from  place  to  place, 
seeing  the  sights  and  camping  out  in  the  open  air. 
At  most  of  the  attractive  sights  in  the  park  large 
tents  are  erected,  where  the  visitors  are  enabled  to 
buy  something  to  eat,  and  as  for  drinking  water,  we 
never  had  any  lack  of  that  during  this  trip. 

We  left  Cinnabar  in  the  afternoon.  Everybody 
was  in  the  best  of  spirits  and  looking  forward  with 


Whkn  I  Wknt  West. 

the  most  pleasurable  anticipation  to  the  sight  of  the 
many  marvels  and  wonders  which  nature  has  so 
lavishly  spread  out  in  this  region.  We  rode  along 
without  any  particular  order,  except  that  Mr.  Eaton 
took  the  lead,  the  wagon  following  him,  and  the  rest 
of  us  bringing  up  the  rear  any  way  we  pleased. 

By  a  peculiar  coincidence  we  experienced  another 
rainstorm  not  long  after  we  started.  This  happened 
at  Gardner,  four  miles  beyond  Cinnabar  and  just  at 
the  edge  of  the  Park  Reservation.  This  compelled 
us  to  stop  here,  but  as  the  severity  of  the  storm 
abated  within  an  hour  we  continued  our  journey  and 
went  into  camp  for  the  night  on  Gardner  river.  As 
a  result  of  the  recent  storm  the  river  was  running  up 
to  its  banks,  and  the  ground  was  soaking  wet. 
This  dampness,  however,  did  not  interfere  with  us, 
and  we  immediately  began  making  preparations  for 
the  night.  Soon  our  Chinese  cook  had  a  good  sup- 
per ready  for  us,  and  1  observed  by  the  energetic 
manner  in  which  all  of  us  enjoyed  our  supper  that 
the  rain  had  not  impaired  our  capacity  to  eat. 

In  laying  out  our  ''tarps'*  it  was  amusing  how 
everybody  was  hunting  for  a  dry  spot  to  sleep,  but 
as  it  was  pretty  wet  all  over,  no  one  succeeded  in 
getting  any  the  best  of  his  neighbor. 

94 


Yellowstone  Park. 

The  night  was  beautiful.  Millions  and  millions  of 
stars  studded  the  sky  like  myriads  of  twinkling 
diamonds.  We  slept  well,  and  the  whole  camp  was 
ready  for  breakfast  the  next  morning  as  soon  as  the 
word  was  given. 

We  broke  camp  at  seven  o'clock  and  continued 
our  trip  along  Gardner  river,  with  high  mountains 
on  either  side  of  us.  On  our  left,  near  the  beautiful 
stream,  we  passed  a  very  high  rock,  cone-shaped, 
and  called  Eagle's  Rock,  on  the  top  of  which  a 
family  of  eagles  had  made  their  home.  When  we 
rode  by  we  noticed  a  young  eaglet  peeping  over  the 
side  and  looking  down  upon  us  with  evident  aston- 
ishment. 

Not  long  after  we  came  to  the  dividing  line  of 
Montana  and  Wyoming,  and  at  an  altitude  of  five 
thousand  six  hundred  feet  we  saw  the  sign  post 
which  marked  the  border  of  these  two  states. 


XV. 

MAMMOTH  HOT  SPRINGS  AND  THE 
GOLDEN  GATE* 


IT  WAS  a  magnificent  morning,  the  air  was  dry 
and  the  weather  delightful,  and  the  scenery 
surrounding  us  was  one  kaleidoscopic  picture  of 
charm  and  beauty.  Traveling  under  such  conditions 
as  I  was  then  was  indeed  a  rare  pleasure,  and  I 
enjoyed  it  to  the  fullest  extent. 

Presently  we  arrived  at  Fort  Yellowstone. 

This  fort  is  the  military  headquarters  of  the  park, 
and  a  troop  of  cavalry  is  stationed  there.  It  is  one 
of  the  inflexible  rules  of  the  park  regulations  which 
requires  all  visitors  to  register  their  names  at  head- 
quarters. If  you  carry  firearms  you  are  requested 
to  surrender  them,  or  else  the  officer  in  charge  seals 
them,  and  as  there  are  a  number  of  military  posts 
distributed  throughout  the  park',  it  is  necessary  that 
you  report  at  each  one  of  these  posts  to  show  that 
the  seal  is  still  intact. 

Fort  Yellowstone  is  located  near  the  Mammoth 
Hot  Springs,  and  the  famous  hotel  by  that  name  is 
not  far  off.  We  stayed  in  this  neighborhood  for 
some  time.     We  saw  the  old  extinct  geyser,  called 

»6 


Mammoth  Hot  Springs. 

Liberty  Cap,  and  then  wandered  through  the  hotel, 
making  some  purchases  at  the  store. 

The  Hot  Spring  of  course  was  a  very  interesting 
sight  to  us.  The  water  came  rushing  out  hot  and 
steaming,  smelling  very  strongly  of  sulphur.  It 
is  not  at  all  palatable,  and  almost  too  hot  for 
bathing  purposes,  but  it  struck  me  as  remarkable 
that  the  government  has  not  established  a  bath- 
house here,  because  it  would  undoubtedly  form  a 
great  attraction  for  almost  every  tourist. 

Leaving  this  delightful  region  of  the  Mammoth 
Hot  Springs  we  passed  Mount  Evarts  and  Bunson 
Peak,  which  are  8,600  feet  high,  and  the  fact  that 
they  were  all  covered  with  snow  looked  very  sin- 
gular to  us  in  the  middle  of  August.  We  now  fol- 
lowed a  winding  road  for  several  miles  and  then  we 
found  ourselves  just  within  sight  of  the  '*  Golden 
Gate." 

The  Golden  Gate  is  a  mountain  gap  composed 
of  a  formation  of  rock,  which  is  of  a  pinkish  color, 
and  winding  in  and  out  among  the  crags  and  crevices 
are  various  mosses,  vines,  ferns  and  cypresses. 
The  whole  covers  the  pink  of  the  rocks  in  such 
a  manner  that  looking  at  it  from  a  distance  actually 
makes  it  appear  like  a  golden  gate.     The  gap  is 

91 


Whkn  I  Went  West. 

so  narrow  and  steep  that  the  government  has 
built  a  causeway  through  it  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  tourists.  On  one  side  the  rock  rises  up  per- 
pendicularly to  a  height  of  fifty  feet,  while  its  dimen- 
sions at  the  base  are  probably  twenty  feet  square. 

Going  through  the  gate  we  found  ourselves  in  an 
immense  open  country,  rolling  like  a  great  meadow 
land.  By  this  time  evening  was  drawing  near,  and 
when  we  arrived  at  the  '*  Dairy  *'  we  decided  to 
camp  there  for  the  night. 

From  our  camping  place  standing  out  against  the 
sky  we  observed  the  snow-covered  summit  of 
Electric  Peak,  12,000  feet  high.  It  was  probably  a 
distance  of  twenty-five  miles  to  this  peak,  but  the 
atmosphere  was  so  clear  that  to  us  it  seemed  like  a 
short  walk  only. 

At  the  Dairy  we  found  a  trout  stream,  and  as  we 
had  several  disciples  of  Izaak  Walton  among  our 
party,  they  immediately  proposed  to  go  a-fishing. 
Rod,  line  and  bait  were  soon  produced,  but  whether 
it  was  that  the  trout  would  not  bite  or  our  fishermen 
were  not  experts,  at  all  events  they  did  not  catch 
many  fish.  However,  to  do  them  justice,  I  must  say 
that  we  all  got  a  taste  for  supper. 

Thus  the  first  day  of  our  trip  in  the  Yellowstone 


The  G01.DBN  Gate. 

terminated,  and  I  have  never  experienced  a  more 
delightful  time  than  I  did  then.  Our  entire  tour 
was  replete  with  marvelous  sights  and  interesting 
experiences  of  all  descriptions. 

We  were  awake  the  next  morning  before  sunrise, 
and  we  had  our  breakfast  almost  immediately, 
so  eager  were  we  to  be  off  again.  It  did  not  take 
us  long  to  catch  up  our  horses.  The  air  was  cool 
and  bracing  and  it  seemed  to  fill  one  with  an  anxiety 
to  be  up  and  about.  In  the  meantime  the  sun  had 
come  out,  and  as  we  now  looked  once  more  at  the 
snow-capped  Electric  Peak  we  thought  it  the  most 
wonderful  sight  we  had  ever  beheld. 

During  the  morning  we  continued  our  route 
through  the  rolling  country  which  we  had  entered  at 
the  Golden  Gate.  We  passed  Swan  Lake,  Beaver 
Lake  and  Twin  Lakes.  Then  we  came  to  the  mar- 
velous ** Obsidian  Cliff,*'  a  cliff  of  natural  glass, 
which  stands  up  perpendicularly  before  you,  shining 
and  sparkling  in  the  sunlight  like  a  crystal  structure. 

At  the  natural  spring  of  Apollonaris  water  we 
stopped  for  a  considerable  time,  and  all  of  us  took 
several  draughts  of  this  wonderful  liquid.  It  was 
now  nearly  noon,  and  we  continued  our  way  until 
we  arrived  at  the  Norris  Geyser  Basin,  where  we 
took  lunch. 


XVI. 
THE  CHEERFUL  ''LARRY.'' 


WHEN  we  came  near  the  Norris  Geyser  Basin, 
and  some  of  us  noticed  the  large  tent,  as 
well  as   innumerable  tables   standing  be- 
neath it  awaiting  the  coming  guests,  it  was  suggested 
that  for  the  nonce  we  desert  the  culinary  productions 
of  our  Chinese  cook. 

Most  of  the  party  had  already  heard  of  the  fame 
of ''Larry,'*  one  of  the  attaches  of  the  Norris  Gey- 
ser Basin  Lunch  Counter,  who,  by  his  volubility  of 
praise  upon  the  viands  and  delicacies  which  are  pro- 
vided here  at  so  much  per  head,  has  gained  quite  a 
reputation  among  the  tourists  who  frequent  the  Yel- 
lowstone Park.  None  of  us,  however,  had  ever 
been  present  at  one  of  his  performances,  and  we 
promised  ourselves  some  amusement.  In  this  we 
were  not  disappointed. 

We  were  just  comfortably  sitting  down,  anxiously 
looking  forward  to  the  lunch  which  we  had  already 
ordered,  when  another  party  of  guests  arrived. 
While  they  were  dismounting  and  others  alighting 

100 


"Our  Outfit"  in  thk  Yei^lowstone. 


Chherfui.  Larry. 

from  the  stages  that  had  brought  them,  we  were 
suddenly  startled  by  the  following: 

'*Here  comes  a  fine  looking  lady  and  gentleman. 
Bring  them  a  fine  bowl  of  soup,  with  plenty  of  roast 
beef  and  potatoes  and  lots  of  bread  and  butter.*' 

The  man's  loud,  shrill  voice,  his  way  of  speaking, 
his  gestures  that  accompanied  all  he  said,  and  then 
the  drollness  of  his  manner,  were  enough  to  throw 
even  the  densest  misanthrope  into  merriment.  We 
laughed  till  our  tears  flowed,  while  Larry  continued: 

**  This  is  the  place  where  you  must  work  your 
jaws  as  well  as  your  tongues!"  But  our  laughter 
must  have  attracted  his  notice,  for  he  now  turned 
around  towards  our  table  and  shouted: 

'*  Sure,  now,  you  are  getting  all  you  want.  Don't 
be  in  a  hurry.  Bring  on  some  pie;  we  have  apple, 
peach,  mince  and  custard.  Don't  go  away  hungry. 
We  have  more  in  the  kitchen." 

In  this  way  he  kept  on  during  the  entire  time  we 
were  there,  greeting  the  newcomers  and  encouraging 
those  who  were  already  the  guests  of  the  restaurant. 
Our  party  enjoyed  Larry's  performance  very  much, 
and  as  the  meal  he  had  supplied  us  was  also  of  an 
excellent  quality,  we  got  up  in  a  very  good  humor. 

When  we  were  leaving,  Larry  came  after  us  and 

101 


When  I  Went  West. 

shook  hands  with  every  one  in  the  party,  wishing 
us  all  a  pleasant  journey. 

The  Norris  Geyser  Basin,  we  found,  was  located 
immediately  behind  the  tent  where  we  had  our 
lunch.  It  seemed  to  me  that  what  is  now  called  a 
basin  was  at  one  time  an  immense  meadow,  probably 
a  mile  or  two  in  length.  To-day  it  is  alive  with 
hundreds  of  spouting  geysers,  some  of  them  shoot- 
ing voluminous  streams  of  water  to  a  height  of  fifty 
feet.  While  you  looked  across  into  that  wilderness 
of  geysers  you  would  always  find  from  ten  to  twenty 
in  operation.  The  bottom  of  the  basin  is  covered 
with  a  white  crystaline  formation,  which  glistens  in 
the  rays  of  the  sun  like  diamonds.  We  lingered 
here  for  quite  a  while  enjoying  the  wondrous  spec- 
tacle, and  then  we  walked  over  to  the  right  on  the 
side  of  the  road  to  gaze  upon  *'01d  Growler,'*  which 
constantly  spouts  up  clouds  of  steam  accompanied 
by  a  roar  not  unlike  the  noise  that  is  made  by  a 
boiler  when  one  of  its  plates  is  broken. 

In  the  meantime  our  party  got  ready  for  the  con- 
tinuation of  our  trip,  which  presented  to  us  new  and 
wonderful  sights  at  every  step  we  took.  Our  route 
lay  through  Elk  Park  and  towards  evening  we 
reached  Gibbon  river. 

102 


ChBKRFUL   lyARRY. 

Here  we  decided  to  camp  for  the  night,  and  this 
was  very  welcome  news  to  our  fishermen,  who 
immediately  got  out  their  rod  and  tackle.  Most  of 
them  had  good  luck,  for  they  secured  quite  a  nice 
mess  of  fish. 

To  amuse  ourselves  a  few  of  us  had  gone  on  a 
tour  of  exploration  before  supper,  when,  to  every- 
body's delight,  we  discovered  an  old  shed  which  had 
been  erected  over  a  hot  spring.  The  interior,  we 
observed,  had  been  crudely  arranged  as  a  bath- 
house. Such  an  invitation  for  a  hot  bath  was  an 
opportunity  we  did  not  want  to  let  escape,  and  for 
the  first  time  in  our  lives  we  took  a  bath  in  a  natural 
spring  of  hot  water. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sights  of  that  whole 
day  was,  however,  yet  in  store  for  us.  This  was 
the  sunset.  The  sun  seemed  to  be  resting  upon  the 
horizon  like  an  immense  ball  of  fire,  from  which 
appeared  to  be  emanating  great  shafts  of  light  of 
various  colors  and  shades.  We  all  stood  and  looked 
spellbound  with  wonderment  and  admiration.  I 
thought  then,  and  I  think  so  yet,  that  while  I  have 
seen  many  wonders  made  by  the  hand  of  man's  in- 
genuity, the  achievements  of  the  Creator  are  incom- 
parably superior  and  more  wonderful. 


XVII. 
THE  PAINT  POTS* 


OUR  departure  was  considerably  delayed  the 
following  morning  by  the  falling  of  a  heavy 
rain.  Indeed,  the  rain  made  it  impossible 
for  us  to  have  our  breakfast  '*al  fresco,"  as  had 
been  the  custom  with  us.  Instead  we  had  to  crawl 
into  the  cook*s  tent,  where,  on  account  of  the 
crowded  condition,  we  had  breakfast  under  some 
difficulties;  but  the  latter  were  amply  compensated 
for  by  the  amusing  pranks  and  larks  the  boys  were 
able  to  indulge  in. 

About  nine  o'clock  the  rain  ceased.  Then  our 
belongings  were  packed  with  the  utmost  expedition, 
and  by  ten  o'clock,  after  our  horses  had  been  caught 
up,  we  were  in  marching  order.  Our  route  lay 
through  the  Gibbon  river  valley,  and  soon  we  passed 
the  Gibbon  Falls,  which  are  two  hundred  feet  high. 
At  this  point  we  found  the  road  along  the  river  very 
narrow  and  we  had  to  go  in  single  file  in  passing 
tourists  coming  from  the  opposite  direction.  Later 
on  we  reached  the  spring  of  natural  soda  water.  Of 
course  we  all  had  a  taste  of  this  beverage,  and  some 
of  us  remarked,  if  we  had  the  necessary  acquisitions 
to  brew  a  ''Don't  Care,"  a  ''Vanilla,"  or  some 

104 


Paint  Pots. 

other  favorite  drug-store  concoction,  we  might  im- 
agine ourselves  at  home. 

Our  destination  for  that  day  was  to  be  the  vicinity 
of  the  Fountain  Hotel,  and  our  way  led  us  presently 
to  the  Fire  Hole  river,  where  we  arrived  at  noon. 
We  rested  here  for  a  short  time  in  the  reflections  of 
this  beautiful  stream,  which  is  clear  as  crystal  and 
cold  as  ice.  It  was  a  charmingly  picturesque  spot. 
On  each  side  of  us  the  high  mountains  of  that 
peculiar  pink  color  which  prevail  throughout  the 
park  rose  up  like  giant  walls,  covered  with  a  wealth 
of  flowers,  ferns  and  mosses,  that  made  the  scene 
wildly  enchanting. 

In  maintaining  our  direction  towards  the  Fountain 
Hotel  we  continued  along  the  Fire  Hole  river  until 
five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  we  entered  the 
Lower  Geyser  Basin,  some  two  miles  from  the  hotel 
and  within  sight  of  the  soldier  post.  At  the  latter 
we  all  registered.  We  had  been  induced  to  make 
our  camp  here  on  account  of  the  attractive  surround- 
ings, which  consisted  of  a  large,  magnificent  meadow, 
on  which  was  spread  out,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  a  richly  colored  floral  carpet.  Here  we  laid 
out  our  **  tarps,"  and  although  we  did  not  sleep  that 
night  on  the  proverbial  **  bed  of  roses,"  we  certainly 

106 


When  I  Wknt  West. 

rested  on  a  bed  of  flowers,  which  was  in  so  far  an 
advantage  that  there  were  no  thorns  in  it. 

Near  the  soldiers'  camp  was  a  natural  hot  water 
spring,  and  Uncle  Sam's  boys,  with  an  eye  to 
*' creature  comforts,"  had  erected  a  bath-house  ad- 
jacent to  this  spring,  where  we  again  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  a  bath.  The  water  of 
this  spring  was  so  hot,  however,  that  we  had  to  add 
some  cold  before  we  were  able  to  get  into  it. 

We  were  so  much  in  love  with  the  location  of  our 
camp,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  the  neighbor- 
hood were  so  many  wonderful  sights  worth  visiting, 
we  decided  to  remain  here  for  several  days,  mak- 
ing short  excursions  into  the  surrounding  district. 

The  next  morning  when  we  woke  up  we  were 
greeted  by  a  wonderfully  clear  sky,  and  all  indica- 
tions promised  a  very  pleasant  day.  We  started  at 
about  ten  o'clock  for  a  ramble  on  horseback,  leaving 
the  camp  in  charge  of  the  cook. 

Nearly  all  of  this  day  we  spent  examining  and 
gazing  at  the  many  wonderful  geysers  with  spouting 
springs  which  were  to  be  found  here  in  all  directions. 

But  one  of  the  most  Interesting  spectacles  we  saw 
was  that  peculiar,  natural  phenomenon  called  the 
Paint  Pots.     They  covered  a  space  of  possibly  one 

106 


Paint  Pots. 

hundred  and  fifty  square  feet.  These  paint  pots  are 
formed  of  a  mass  very  much  like  what  we  know  as 
potter's  clay,  but  it  has  a  tinge  of  pink  through  it. 
In  some  places  the  clay  is  hot  and  steaming,  throw- 
ing up  large  bubbles  like  soap  bubbles,  which,  how- 
ever, are  of  the  consistency  of  white  paint.  These 
bubbles  burst  with  a  loud  **pop."  The  whole  sur- 
face of  the  paint  pot  area  shakes  and  quivers,  as  if 
the  entire  mass  were  composed  of  gelatine.  A  very 
strong  odor  of  sulphur  pervades  the  surrounding  at- 
mosphere, and  the  amount  of  heat  which  is  also 
thrown  out  by  these  paint  pots  makes  it  quite  warm 
around  here. 

Towards  evening  we  went  to  the  Fountain  Hotel 
for  supper,  and  afterwards  we  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  Yellowstone  Park  bears,  of  whom  every- 
one has  heard,  coming  back  to  the  hotel  for  their 
supper.  In  the  meantime  the  sun  had  set,  for  which 
we  were  very  sorry,  because  we  would  very  much 
have  liked  to  take  some  snapshots  of  these  bears 
with  our  cameras. 

This  had  been  a  busy  day  for  us,  and  although  we 
had  not  been  away  from  the  camp  for  any  consider- 
able distance,  we  had  nevertheless  covered  a  great 
deal  of  territory  and  we  had  seen  some  wonderful 
sights. 

1«7 


XVIII. 
^'OLD  FAITHFUL.** 


WHEN  we  awoke  the  next  morning  we  found 
frost  all  about  our  camp,  but  by  nine  o'clock 
it  had  disappeared,  and  we  had  every,  prom- 
ise for  another  glorious  day. 

Our  program  for  that  day  was  an  expedition  into 
the  *'  Upper  Geyser  Basin,*'  where  we  hoped  to  go 
into  camp  that  night.  Thus  we  were  not  going  to 
cover  a  greater  distance  than  five  miles,  but  we 
knew  there  would  be  enough  to  interest  us  along  the 
road  to  make  the  time  pass  quickly.  The  traveling 
was  not  very  good  here,  either,  on  account  of  the 
dusty  condition  of  the  road,  as  well  as  the  hot  Aug- 
ust sun. 

All  along  our  route  we  passed  one  geyser  after 
another,  some  of  more  importance  than  others. 
There  was  the  *'Castle''  and  the  *'Giant,"  neither 
of  which  we  found  in  operation. 

But  when  we  got  to  *'01d  Faithfur*  we  were  just 
in  time  to  see  it  spout.  This  geyser,  as  is  well 
known,  goes  into  operation  every  hour,  and  it  is  in 
this  respect  as  reliable  as  a  Waterbury  watch.  Old 
Faithful  is  one  of  the  grandest  sights  in  the  whole 
of  Yellowstone  Park,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no 

108 


Camp  in  the  Yei.i,owstone. 


Oi.D  Faithful. 

tourist  ever  went  through  the  reservation  without 
paying  a  visit  to  this  famous  geyser. 

This  geyser,  perhaps  the  most  celebrated  of  them 
all,  has  a  crater,  which  is  formed  like  an  immense 
chimney,  some  twenty  feet  high,  and  having  a  diam- 
eter of  probably  fifteen  feet.  When  it  is  not  in 
operation  one  may  go  close  enough  to  look  into  this 
crater,  and  there  you  can  see  the  hot  water  boiling 
and  swirling  at  the  bottom. 

The  operation  of  Old  Faithful  is  at  its  height  every 
hour,  when  the  boiling,  seething  mass  of  water  is 
forced  up  into  the  air  for  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
feet.  This  lasts  perhaps  for  several  minutes,  and 
then  it  begins  slowly  to  recede.  Gradually  the 
column  of  water  becomes  smaller  until  it  eventually 
disappears  altogether  within  the  brink  of  the  crater. 
But  lower  and  lower  it  sinks  even  then,  and  when 
it  reaches  the  very  bottom  its  operation  seems  to 
have  ceased.  This  might  be  called  its  suspended 
agitation,  which  goes  on  for  the  duration  of  a  very 
few  minutes,  after  which  it  begins  slowly  to  rise 
again  until  its  operation  once  more  culminates  in  the 
column  of  water  one  hundred  feet  high.  So  it  goes 
all  the  time,  day  and  night,  as  promptly  and  regu- 
larly as  if  its  operation  were  controlled  by  some 
invisible    force    or   some    marvelously    mysterious 

109 


When  I  Went  West. 

machinery.  Our  entire  party  stood  and  wondered  at 
the  peculiar  spectacle,  and  so  fascinating  was  it  that 
some  of  us  had  difficulty  to  tear  themselves  away. 

We  had  lunch  at  the  neighboring  counter  of  the 
restaurant,  and  then  continued  our  observation  of 
the  countless  wonders  which  lavish  nature  seems  to 
have  thrown  about  here  in  a  truly  prodigal  fashion. 

The  whole  valley  appears  to  be  dotted  with  a  net- 
work of  geysers  and  springs  of  all  sizes,  and  the 
whole  basin  is  covered  with  a  formation  somewhat 
similar  to  salt,  the  residuum  from  the  spouting 
craters.  Hundreds  of  tourists  are  to  be  seen  here 
during  the  season  all  day  long,  and  judging  by  the 
multitude  around  you,  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine 
one's  self  at  a  circus  or  a  country  fair. 

The  following  morning  our  camp  was  again  covered 
with  frost,  which,  however,  soon  disappeared  before 
the  rays  of  the  rising  sun,  and  then  we  went  forth 
once  more  among  the  regions  of  the  ** Upper  Geyser 
Basin.*' 

During  this  day  we  visited  the  *'Lone  Star  Gey- 
ser," ''Keplar  Falls"  and  the  '^Black  Sand  Basin," 
greatly  enjoying  all  the  wonderful  sights  that  were 
to  be  seen,  but  as  they  do  not  differ  from  what 
I  have  already  described,  I  shall  not  weary  you  with 
any  repetition. 

110 


XIX. 
AT  YELLOWSTONE  LAKE. 


THE  next  morning  we  broke  camp  very  early, 
knowing  that  we  had  a  long  distance  ahead 
of  us  before  we  should  take  another  rest. 

On  our  route  we  passed  several  of  the  geysers  we 
had  seen  the  day  before,  and  we  also  had  another 
glimpse  of  Old  Faithful,  which  was  spouting  at  its 
very  height,  and  some  of  us  remarked  that  the 
geyser  was  putting  on  these  particular  airs  as  a 
token  of  farewell  by  which  we  might  always  re- 
member it. 

We  now  traveled  along  Spring  Creek,  and  we 
came  into  one  of  the  most  beautiful  canons  I  have 
ever  seen,  the  ground  as  well  as  the  mountainous 
walls  being  bedecked  with  a  great  profusion  of  wild 
flowers,  mosses  and  ferns.  The  water  of  the  creek 
was  cool  and  clear,  and  tumbled  and  slashed  along 
between  its  banks  in  the  most  riotous  fashion. 

Soon  our  journey  led  us  through  a  long,  winding, 
narrow  road,  and  all  the  time  we  were  going  up  hill 
until  about  noon,  when  we  reached  the  * 'Continental 
Divide,"  which  is  marked  by  a  sign  post,  one  side 
pointing  to  the  Atlantic  and  the  other  to  the  Pacific 


When  I  Went  West. 

Ocean.  At  one  side  of  the  post  is  a  small  pond,  the 
surface  of  which  is  covered  with  water  lilies  and 
other  water  plants;  and  so  nicely  balanced  is  this 
small  body  of  water  that  a  fairly  strong  breeze 
either  from  the  West  or  the  East  will  cause  it  to  flow 
in  whichever  direction  the  wind  blows.  The  Con- 
tinental Divide  is  located  at  an  altitude  of  8,240  feet, 
and  some  of  us,  especially  your  humble  servant, 
were  affected  by  the  lightness  of  the  atmosphere. 

Continuing  on  our  way  we  rode  down  hill,  and 
the  air  was  so  clear  that  at  a  turning  in  the  road  we 
were  able  to  look  over  an  immense  range  of  country; 
indeed,  some  of  us  pointed  out  the  *'The  Tetons,'*  a 
range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  about  seventy-five 
miles  in  the  distance  and  rising  to  a  height  of  12,000 
feet.  The  panorama  which  spread  out  before  us 
at  this  point  was  very  impressive.  Besides  The 
Tetons,  covered  with  ice  and  snow  and  glistening  in 
the  sun  like  sparkling  diamonds,  we  also  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  **Shoshone  Lakes,*'  which  are  situ- 
ated in  the  Yellowstone  Park,  but  they  are  not 
accessible. 

Yellowstone  Lake  was  reached  at  about  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  as  the  place  here  looked 
rather  inviting,  we  decided  to  go  into  camp  for  the 

112 


Ykli^owstonb  Lakk. 

night.  Not  very  far  from  where  we  stopped  we  dis- 
covered two  springs  that  formed  an  interesting 
phenomenon.  One  of  the  springs  threw  out  water 
just  warm  enough  to  make  it  convenient  for  us 
to  do  our  dish  washing,  while  the  water  in  the 
other  spring  was  so  hot  that  eggs  could  be  boiled 
in  it  within  ten  minutes.  This,  with  the  beautiful, 
clear,  soft  water  of  the  lake,  made  a  peculiar  com- 
bination. 

Yellowstone  Lake  is  about  fifteen  miles  long  and 
is  surrounded  by  a  mountainous  country. 

Looking  across  from  our  camp  we  saw  Mt.  Sheri- 
dan, which  is  said  to  be  an  extinct  volcano. 

We  left  this  camp  the  next  morning  to  journey 
around  the  lake,  when  we  discovered  that  three  of 
our  horses  had  strayed  away,  so  we  had  to  dispatch 
a  detail  of  men  on  the  hunt  for  them. 

Our  road  along  the  lake  took  us  through  dense 
woods,  in  which  we  saw  several  deer  and  elk, 
while  on  the  lake  we  observed  innumerable  ducks, 
swans  and  geese.  In  the  evening  we  arrived  near 
the  Lake  Hotel,  and  here  we  determined  to  stop  for 
several  days,  because  we  promised  ourselves  much 
fun  and  entertainment  with  fishing  and  excursions 
into  the  neighborhood  of  the  lake  region. 


118 


XX. 

A  REAL  HERO* 


IN  LOOKING  back  over  our  trip  through  the 
Yellowstone,  where  we  saw  so  many  wonder- 
ful sights  and  where  I  had  so  many  pleasant 
experiences,  the  memories  that  seem  to  linger  with 
me  longer  than  all  others  are  those  of  the  hours  we 
spent  of  an  evening  around  the  camp  fire.  In  very 
truth  let  me  assure  you,  my  dear  friends,  there  is 
nothing  more  delightful  to  me  than  living  in  a  camp 
with  a  party  of  jovial  and  congenial  companions; 
and  if  any  one  of  you  should  ever  contemplate  a 
trip  through  the  Western  countries,  join  some  outfit 
like  ours  and  make  the  journey  that  way.  True 
enough,  you  will  have  to  undergo  some  hardships, 
suffer  inconveniences,  but  the  advantages  of  that 
mode  of  traveling  are  so  manifold  there  really  is  no 
comparison. 

Danger?  Why,  there  is  none  worth  speaking  of. 
The  Indian  is  docile,  and  the  wild  element,  which  at 
one  time  terrorized  the  traveler  through  the  West, 
scarcely  exists  any  longer. 

Well,  as  I  was  saying,  the  evening  around  the 
camp  fire  was  a  pleasure  we  all  looked  forward  to 
day  by  day,  and  it  was  a  great  disappointment  to  us 
when  it  rained  and  we  had  to  crawl  beneath  our 

114 


Skrgbant  N0R14N. 


WhBN  I  WSNT  W«ST. 

**tarps'*  without  indulging  in  a  review  of  our  day's 
experiences  and  listen  to  the  stories  which  were 
usually  contributed  by  some  to  the  amusement  of 
the  others. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  evenings  around  the 
camp  fire  we  had  on  that  night  at  Yellowstone  Lake. 
On  this  occasion  we  had  some  visitors  from  among 
the  soldiers  who  were  stationed  at  the  post  nearby. 
We  had  also  some  musical  instruments  amongst  us, 
and  the  evening  passed  away  very  pleasantly  with 
smoking,  singing,  talking  over  the  events  of  the  day 
and  listening  to  the  musical  entertainment  provided 
for  us. 

Among  these  soldiers  was  Sergeant  Edward  Norlin, 
who  was  in  charge  of  the  post.  This  man  Norlin 
impressed  me  very  much,  because  he  looked  to  me 
the  real  soldier;  one  who  said  very  little,  but  who 
had  it  written  upon  his  very  face  that  when  it  came 
to  action  he  would  be  right  at  home. 

How  true  this  first  impression  was  which  I  had 
formed  of  Ed.  Norlin  I  had  occasion  to  find  out  the 
next  day. 

I  happened  to  be  a  visitor  at  the  post,  when  1 
noticed  a  photograph  hanging  upon  the  wall,  repre- 
senting a  number  of  soldiers,  and  underiieath  I  read 
this  inscription:  **The  Carlin  Relief  Expedition.'* 

116 


Ed.  Staley's  Ranch,  Hknry's  Lake,  Idaho. 


Real  Hero. 

Turning  towards  one  of  the  soldiers  standing  beside 
me,  I  asked  him  what  the  photograph  meant.  Said 
he:  **I  don't  know  much  about  it,  but  Ed." — mean- 
ing Sergeant  Norlin — 'Vas  one  of  the  party;  ask 
him.'' 

For  some  reason  the  picture  had  interested  me, 
and  I  hunted  up  the  sergeant  to  give  me  its  history. 
But  Norlin  merely  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  re- 
plied:   ''Oh,  that  was  nothing.*' 

This  very  hesitation  on  his  part,  however  made 
me  more  curious  than  ever,  and  by  dint  of  a  little 
persuasion  he  said  at  last:  ''Well,  it  was  this  way.*' 
And  then  he  told  me  the  following  story,  which  1 
shall  try  to  narrate  in  his  own  simple  manner: 

"About  four  or  five  years  ago  when  I  was  sta- 
tioned up  North,  a  hunting  party  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  man  named  Carlin  passed  our  post.  This 
party  was  bound  for  the  Bitter  Root  Region  at  the 
extreme  headwaters  of  the  Clearwater  river  in 
Idaho.  It  was  already  late  in  the  season  when  they 
came,  and  they  had  not  left  us  many  weeks  when 
winter  set  in  with  all  the  fury  of  such  a  winter  as 
can  be  experienced  only  in  that  part  of  this  country. 

"Of  course,  we  men  at  the  post  soon  began  to 
talk  about  the  long  stay  they  were  making,  and 
after  awhile  we  hoped  and  looked  for  them  every 

U7 


When  I  Went  West. 

day  to  return.  But  we  hoped  in  vain,  and  then  we 
knew  that  unless  they  were  rescued  pretty  quickly 
every  one  of  these  men — and  there  were  six  of 
them — must  perish. 

''Still  no  sign  of  them,  and  then  it  was  that  our 
lieutenant  suggested  that  some  one  ought  to  go  to 
their  relief.  But  who  should  go?  It  was  as  much 
as  anybody's  life  was  worth  to  brave  the  elements 
of  that  region  in  the  middle  of  winter;  in  fact,  there 
was  not  one  who  did  not  know  that  it  almost  meant 
certain  death. 

** However,  when  the  lieutenant  asked  for  volun- 
teers, seven  of  us  jumped  to  our  feet,  and  we  all 
said  that  we  were  ready  to  follow  him  wherever  he 
would  ask  us  to  go. 

'*  'Now  mind  me,'  said  the  lieutenant,  'whoever 
goes  on  this  journey  must  be  ready  and  willing  to  do 
everything  I  ask  him  without  asking  any  questions 
and  without  any  murmur.  Upon  absolute  discipline 
alone  will  depend  our  success.* 

"Of  course  we  all  knew  that  as  well  as  he  could 
tell  us,  and  so  we  merely  bowed  our  heads  and 
smiled.  Well,  the  next  day  we  got  ready,  bundled 
our  'chuck'  together,  took  our  guns,  horses  and  am- 
munition and  then  departed. 

"We  had  calculated  that  the  hunters  would  come 

U8 


Rbai.  Hero. 

back  by  the  Clearwater  river,  and  towards  that 
stream  we  directed  our  course.  We  got  that  far 
with  our  horses,  although,  owing  to  the  lateness  of 
the  season,  not  without  much  difficulty  and  trouble. 
But  when  we  got  to  the  Clearwater  we  could  take 
our  horses  no  further;  in  fact,  the  dangerous  part  of 
the  trip  was  only  just  about  to  begin.  Our  com- 
mander, who  realized  this,  then  said  to  us:  'Now, 
men,  is  your  time  to  speak,  if  anyone  wants  to  go 
back.  You  know  what  is  ahead  of  you.'  But  none 
of  us  faltered,  and  we  all  went  on. 

**With  considerable  difficulty,  literally  groping  our 
path  over  snow  and  ice  in  the  bitter  cold,  we  at  last 
reached  the  edge  of  the  river.  But  naturally  we 
could  not  travel  along  the  banks  of  the  stream,  be- 
cause to  attempt  it  was  impossible.  So  we  con- 
structed a  raft,  upon  which  we  put  our  effects,  and 
then  jumping  into  the  ice  cold  river,  we  pulled  up 
stream.  Oh,  but  how  cold  that  water  was!  Ice 
and  snow  all  around  us  and  the  thermometer  always 
below  zero.  But  we  got  there.  Sometimes  in  the 
evening  when  we  rested,  after  having  pulled  the 
raft  all  day,  our  clothes  would  be  like  one  mass  of 
ice,  and  it  took  quite  a  while  to  dry  them  even  after 
they  were  thawed  out.  Well,  1  do  not  remember 
how  many  days  we  were  going  up  the  river,  anyhow 

U9 


When  I  Went  West. 

we  met  the  Carlin  party  coming  down.  The  con- 
dition they  were  in  I  cannot  describe.  Their  clothes, 
what  few  they  had  left,  hung  around  them  in  rags. 
They  had  been  feeding  on  a  dog  for  the  last  two 
days;  indeed,  they  were  almost  at  death's  door. 
Their  cook  they  had  been  obliged  to  abandon  thirty- 
five  miles  higher  up  the  river,  and  his  corpse,  frozen 
stiff,  was  found  next  spring.  It  was  the  happiest 
moment  of  my  life  when  we  found  them,  and  we 
came  up  just  in  time  to  save  them.*' 

Here  Norlin  stopped  and  he  did  not  seem  to  care 
going  on  with  his  story.  So  I  said:  ''Well,  and 
what  did  you  do  then,  Ed..?*' 

'*Oh,  we  brought  them  out,'*  and  that  was  all  I 
could  get  him  to  say.  But  I  learned  afterwards  that 
everyone  of  these  brave  volunteers  who  went  on 
that  expedition  was  on  the  ''convalescent  list*'  for 
months  after.  The  brave  lieutenant  had  to  resign 
from  the  service,  because  after  those  hardships  his 
physical  condition  incapacitated  him  forever  from  the 
life  of  a  soldier. 

And  these  men  did  all  that  without  any  thought 
for  compensation  or  hope  for  any  reward;  simply 
because  they  believed  it  was  their  duty. 

After  all,  this  world  cannot  be  such  a  bad  place 
when  we  consider  that  such  men  as  the  members  of 
The  Carlin  Relief  Expedition  lived  in  it. 


XXI. 

THE  GRAND  CANON  AND  FALLS  OF 
THE  YELLOWSTONE. 


THE  time  we  spent  around  Yellowstone  Lake 
was  full  of  intefesting  sightseeing  incidents, 
and  we  were  all  sorry  when  we  went  away. 
But  there  was  still  so  much  in  store  for  us  in  this 
wonderful  region  in  the  way  of  fresh  marvels  that  it 
would  never  have  done  to  spend  too  long  in  one 
place,  and  hence  we  had  to  wish  good-bye  to  Yellow- 
stone Lake,  as  well  as  the  genial  soldier  boys  at  the 
**Post,*'  who  had  done  so  much  to  make  our  stay 
pleasant  for  us. 

At  the  lake  the  weather  was  quite  cold  in  the 
mornings  and  evenings,  and  when  we  got  up  we 
usually  had  to  brush  the  frost-  off  our  tarps  before 
we  put  them  away. 

From  the  Yellowstone  Lake  we  continued  our 
journey  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Yellowstone  river, 
which  is  the  outlet  of  the  lake.  Its  water  is  very 
clear,  and  until  it  reaches  the  '*Upper  Falls*'  it  is 
composed  of  a  regular  succession  of  cascades,  falls 
and  riffles,  over  which  the  water  rushes,  rumbles 
and  tumbles  with  a  great  noise.  Presently  we 
turned  away  from  the  course  of  the   river  to  go 

121 


Whkn  I  WSNT  West. 

through  **Hayden  Valley,"  and  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  having  reached  the  Upper  Falls,  we 
went  into  camp  some  distance  above.  Here  we  had 
a  slight  fall  of  snow  in  the  evening.  In  the  month 
of  August  this  was  a  remarkable  experience,  we 
thought. 

I  almost  forgot  to  mention  that  on  our  road  to  the 
Upper  Falls  we  passed  the  **Mud  Geyser,'*  which  is 
a  very  interesting  spectacle.  This  geyser  forms  an 
immense  hole  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  the  diameter  at 
the  opening  measuring  probably  sixty  feet.  It  runs 
back  into  the  hill  in  an  oblique  direction  and  in  the 
shape  of  a  funnel,  the  bottom  having  a  diameter  of 
not  more  than  twenty-five  feet.  The  entire  funnel 
is  constantly  filled  with  steam,  which  smells  very 
strongly  of  sulphur.  The  discharge  of  the  Mud 
Geyser,  as  you  will  have  guessed  perhaps,  is  very 
muddy,  dirty  water,  and  it  comes  out  in  a  large 
stream,  like  three  or  four  Pittsburg  fire  plugs  turned 
into  one.  While  I  was  wondering  at  the  amount  of 
mud  that  came  out  of  the  side  of  this  hill,  I  looked 
around  to  see  how  it  was  carried  away,  but  I  failed 
to  discover  even  a  sign  of  a  channel  for  this  purpose. 
Expressing  my  surprise  at  this  extraordinary  phe- 
nomenon to  one  of  our  guides,  he  said  that  it  was 
carried  off  by  a  subterranean  outlet. 

122 


Grand  Canon. 

We  had  now  been  in  the  Park  about  ten  days,  and 
we  had  seen  some  of  the  most  marvelous  sights  that 
have  been  produced  by  nature  in  this  world,  and 
when  we  were  told  now  that  what  we  had  seen  so 
far  was  no  comparison  with  the  wonderful  sight  of 
to-morrow,  we  shook  our  heads  somewhat  incredu- 
lously, thinking  that  our  guides  were  merely  exag- 
gerating as  a  matter  of  business.  What  they  told 
us  we  would  see  was  the  Grand  Canon  and  Falls 
of  the  Yellowstone,  which  is  said  to  be  the  climax, 
the  **piece  de  resistance'*  of  everything  that  is  inter- 
esting and  worth  seeing  in  that  whole  region. 

This  announcement  naturally  threw  us  all  into 
some  excitement,  and  in  the  evening  around  the 
camp  fire  we  asked  some  of  them  who  had  already 
been  there  to  give  us  some  description  of  the  place. 
But  they  all  declined  to  do  this. 

'*You  will  have  to  see  the  Grand  Falls  and  Canon 
yourself  to  appreciate  and  realize  its  grandeur  and 
its  beauty,"  they  said;  and  we  had  to  be  satisfied. 
It  had  been  arranged  to  leave  camp  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  of  course  we  were  astir  long 
before  that  time. 

We  rode  along  in  a  column  two  abreast,  and  in 
the  many  varieties  of  our  traveling  costumes  we 
presented  quite  a  picturesque  calvacade.     On  our 

123 


Whbn  I  Went  West. 

way  we  heard  the  noise  from  the  waters  of  the 
Upper  Falls,  but  we  could  not  see  them.  So  we 
dismounted  and  climbed  down  a  narrow  path,  which 
ended  at  a  board  walk,  and  this  led  us  on  to  a  very 
large  rock,  where  we  had  a  very  fine  view  of  the 
falls.  Retracing  our  steps  to  the  road,  we  remounted 
and  then  continued  on  our  journey.  Our  route 
wound  around  and  around  along  the  left  bank  of  the 
river,  and  in  some  places  it  ran  quite  close  to  the 
edge  of  the  precipice,  which  leads  down  to  the 
water's  bed.  There  is  a  narrow  path  leading  down 
to  the  brink,  but  we  concluded  to  take  the  route 
passing  ''Inspiration  Point.'* 

When  we  arrived  there  we  instinctively  halted, 
and  as  we  looked  around  a  panorama  opened  up  be- 
fore our  eyes  that  left  us  literally  speechless  with 
admiration. 

''Inspiration  Point,"  on  which  we  stood,  forms  a 
plateau  1,400  feet  above  the  Yellowstone  river,  and 
from  there  the  traveler  has  one  of  the  best  views  of 
the  canon.  You  can  see  up  and  down  the  river  for 
miles. 

I  should  very  much  like  to  give  you  a  description 
of  the  marvelous  view  that  is  here  spread  out  before 
the  observer,  but  such  a  feat  is  far  beyond  me.  It 
would  require  the  pen  of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  or 

124 


Princess  of  the  Piutes. 


FAIJ.S  OF  YKI.I.OWSTONB. 

the  descriptive  genius  of  Rider  Haggard  to  do  justice 
to  the  grandeur  of  the  Great  Falls  Canon. 

I  trust,  therefore,  that  you  will  take  the  will  for 
the  deed  if  I  give  you  a  feint  sketch  of  the  matchless 
scene  which  was  then  before  me. 

If  you  were  to  look  upon  this  panorama  spread 
upon  a  canvas  you  would  see  in  the  far  distance  the 
Great  Falls,  over  which  the  crystal  waters  of  the 
Yellowstone  rush  like  a  silvery  stream  down  into  a 
a  chasm  365  feet  deep.  And  as  that  stream  strikes 
the  bottom  the  waters  rebound  in  monstrous  clouds 
of  mist  and  spray,  reflecting  the  rays  of  the  morning 
sun  in  myriads  of  rainbows.  But  soon  the  waters 
flow  on,  and  now  the  river  takes  the  form  of  a  silver 
thread,  which  winds  itself  in  graceful  curves  through 
the  walls  of  the  canon. 

Like  most  of  the  stone  formation  of  the  Yellow- 
stone Park,  the  walls  of  the  canon  are  composed  of 
a  soft,  chalky  substance,  containing  a  certain  amount 
of  iron,  which  lends  to  the  rocks  the  color  of  a  mel- 
low, golden  hue.  Between  these  yellow  walls  you 
see  the  flowing  river. 

But  to  relieve  this  golden  glare  with  a  tint  of 
green  the  sides  of  the  canon  present  a  thick  growth 
of  cypress  trees,  while  over  and  around  the  tops  of 
many   pillars  and  pinnacles,  which  seem  to  have 

126 


When  I  Went  We;st. 

grown  out  of  the  mother  rock,  you  see  scores  of 
eagles  gracefully  flying  about. 

Towards  the  top  of  the  cannon  its  walls  appear  to 
be  hewn  out  of  rough,  cyclopean  rocks,  but  further 
down  the  stone  has  crumbled,  and  in  many  places  it 
rolls  to  the  water's  edge  soft  and  smooth,  like  the 
ocean's  sandy  beach. 

As  we  stood  there  on  that  August  morning  and 
contemplated  the  magnificent  spectacle  before  us, 
we  were  struck  with  awe  and  wonderment  at  the 
majesty  of  nature's  handiwork. 

The  immensity  of  this  picture,  the  marvelous 
coloring,  the  roar  of  the  falls  and  the  rushing  of  the 
river  filled  us  with  rapture,  and  not  a  word  was 
spoken  above  a  whisper. 

That  sight  left  a  deep  impression  with  all  of  us, 
and  for  days  it  formed  the  chief  theme  of  our  camp 
fire  conversation. 

How  long  we  stayed  on  Inspiration  Point  I  do  not 
now  remember,  but  I  recall  very  distinctly  the  fact 
that  when  we  left  there  on  our  way  to  the  Canon 
Hotel  we  caught  ourselves  several  times  involun- 
tarily looking  back  to  catch  once  more  one  last 
glimpse  of  that  wonderful  place. 


126 


XXII. 
TO  HENRY'S  LAKE. 


OUR  mail  had  been  sent  to  us  addressed  to  the 
Canon  Hotel,  and  this  was  our  purpose  for 
going  there.  When  we  arrived  in  the  ro- 
tunda of  this  popular  resort  we  were  greatly  sur- 
prised to  find  so  many  visitors  there  and  among  them 
several  acquaintances. 

As  we  had  arranged  to  leave  this  region  the  next 
day,  it  had  been  decided  to  have  some  kind  of  re- 
ception that  evening  at  the  camp  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  some  of  our  friends  a  farewell  entertainment. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  evening  it  rained  and  this 
forced  us  to  hold  the  affair  in  the  cook's  tent,  and  in 
spite  of  the  cramped  quarters  for  such  a  large  crowd 
we  managed  to  have  a  delightful  time.  Our  soldier 
friend,  Ed.  Norlin,  made  one  of  the  party,  and  when 
later  in  the  night  even  he  became  somewhat  affected 
by  the  general  enthusiasm  of  our  guests,  he  began 
te  tell  us  stories  of  his  experience  as  a  soldier  in  the 
West,  which  all  of  us  greatly  enjoyed. 

The  following  morning  we  broke  camp.  Our  pl^n 
now  was  for  the  party  to  return  home  to  Custer 
Trail  Ranch,  except   "Bert,**  *'Jack*'  and  myself 

127 


Whkn  I  Wbnt  West. 

and  two  or  three  others,  who  had  made  up  our 
minds  to  go  for  a  week  or  so  up  to  Henry's  Lake* 
on  a  hunting  expedition.  Well,  after  breakfast, 
while  the  wagons  were  being  packed,  some  one 
proposed  that  we  all  go  and  have  one  more  glimpse 
at  the  Great  Falls  Canon,  and  to  give  you  an 
idea  of  the  wonderful  impression  that  grand  sight 
had  made  upon  us  it  is  only  necessary  to  say  we  all 
fell  in  with  this  suggestion  with  the  utmost  enthusi- 
asm. 

It  was  arranged  that  the  wagons  be  sent  on  the 
route  and  that  we  would  catch  up  with  them  later 
on.  Then  we  started  off,  but  we  did  not  take  the 
same  road  this  time,  and  so  we  landed  at  the  top  of 
the  falls,  where  we  sat  down,  reveling  in  the  mag- 
nificent view  of  the  canon.  Leaving  this  gorgeous 
scene  for  the  last  time,  we  followed  our  outfit,  which 
we  overtook  at  the  Norris  Geyser  Basin.  It  was 
noon  and  we  had  our  lunch,  after  which  we  had  a 
photograph  taken  of  the  entire  party. 

It  was  also  at  this  place  that  Bert,  Jack  and  my- 
self and  the  others  said  good-bye  to  the  rest,  and 
while  they  went  to  the  right,  we  turned  to  the  Left 
towards  Henry's  Lake,  Idaho. 

Our  immediate  destination  was  the  ranch  of  Ed- 
ward Staley,  who  had  acted  as  our  guide  through  the 


Henry's  Lake. 

Yellowstone.  We  were  accompanied  by  Billy  Fer- 
guson, a  Piute  Indian,  who  was  to  act  as  our 
horse  wrangler,  cook  and  general  utility  man  on 
our  sixty  mile  ride  to  the  West.  We  were  well 
mounted,  while  Ferguson  acted  as  the  driver  of  our 
wagon. 

Towards  six  o'clock  that  evening  we  arrived  at 
the  Gibbon  river,  and  we  decided  to  go  into  camp 
for  the  night. 

At  nine  the  next  morning  we  continued  our  jour- 
ney along  the  Riverside  Road,  stopping  for  a  short 
while  at  the  soldiers*  post,  where  Sergeant  Morgan 
entertained  us  with  the  customary  military  hos- 
pitality. 

About  noon  we  arrived  at  Dwelley's  Log  House, 
which  is  the  only  public  house  in  this  section  of  the 
country  and  quite  a  landmark.  Dwelley,  the  pro- 
prietor, is  a  characteristic  old  hunter  of  former  days, 
and  the  interior  of  his  house  is  decorated  with  the 
trophies  of  his  hunts. 

Leaving  Dwelley's  at  two  o'clock,  after  a  good 
dinner,  a  rest  and  a  cigar,  our  road  now  lay  through 
an  immense  forest.  I  observed  here  that  the  trees 
were  **blazed"  very  high,  usually  ten  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  when  1  inquired  of  Billy  Ferguson  for 
the  reason  of  this  he  remarked  that  in  the  winter 

129 


When  I  Went  West. 

the  snow  is  very  deep  in  that  region,  and  unless  the 
* 'blazes'*  were  made  a  fairly  good  distance  from  the 
ground  the  snow  would  cover  them. 

We  traveled  through  this  wood  the  greater  part  of 
the  afternoon,  arriving  at  the  eastern  shore  of 
Henry's  Lake  about  four  o'clock.  The  lake  is  five 
miles  long,  and  as  Staley's  ranch  is  located  on  the 
extreme  western  shore,  we  determined  to  push  on 
to  the  ranch  as  fast  as  we  could.  We  enjoyed  a 
very  fine  view  along  the  lake  of  The  Tetons,  which 
we  could  see  in  the  far-off  horizon  and  looking  like 
enormous  white  pillars  against  the  sky. 

We  reached  our  destination  some  time  before  sup- 
per, and  Mrs.  Smith,  who  is  the  foster  mother  of  Ed. 
Staley,  made  us  very  welcome.  Our  horses  were 
put  away,  while  we  had  a  **Shack"  placed  at  our  dis- 
posal, and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  we  had  made 
ourselves  at  home. 

When  I  said  just  now  that  we  were  welcomed  by 
Mrs.  Smith  you  never  dreamed  that  a  lady  with  such 
a  name  could  be  an  Indian  Princess,  but  such  is  the 
case.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  full-blooded  Piute  Indian, 
who  many  years  ago  married  a  white  man  with  that 
common  cognomen.  As  the  two  had  no  children  of 
their  own,  they  adopted  Ed.  Staley,  and  the  latter 
owns  the  ranch.     Mrs.  Smith  became  the  princess  of 

ISO 


Henry's  LtAke. 

her  tribe  some  time  ago  upon  the  death  of  her 
cousin,  Winnemucka,  and  she  was  properly  elected 
to  that  exalted  office  by  the  members  of  her  tribe. 

Withal  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  very  good  cook  and  house- 
keeper, and  I  have  the  liveliest  remembrance  of  the 
kind  and  hospitable  manner  in  which  she  took  care 
of  us. 

The  ranch  we  found  located  in  a  very  fine  coun- 
try. It  consisted  of  a  substantial  log  house,  several 
shacks,  barns,  as  well  as  good  stabling. 

Henry's  Lake  is  situated  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  Idaho,  in  Lake  county.  It  is  a  great  resort  for 
ducks,  geese  and  swans,  and  it  is  alive  with  fish, 
such  as  salmon  and  rainbow  trout.  Right  back  of 
the  ranch  the  mountains  rise  up  to  an  immense 
height,  and  in  these  mountains  are  found  any 
amount  of  bear,  elk,  deer  and  mountain  sheep,  as 
well  as  mountain  and  blue  grouse.  Indeed,  the 
place  is  one  of  the  most  ideal  hunting  grounds  even 
the  most  ardent  son  of  Nimrod  could  wish  for. 

You  can  readily  imagine  that  we  managed  to  h^ve 
a  very  delightful  time  here.  Boating,  hunting  and 
fishing,  however,  were  our  chief  amusements;  but 
I  must  tell  you  of  the  way  we  went  * 'gigging"  fish 
at  night. 


iti 


When  I  Went  West. 

* 'Gigging"  fish  means  catching  fish  with  a  gig, 
which  is  an  instrument  something  like  a  pitch-fork. 
Well,  we  would  go  out  of  an  evening  in  a  boat,  a 
large  iron  cradle  filled  with  pine  being  fastened  in 
the  bow  of  the  boat.  This  wood  was  set  afire,  and 
then  the  boat  was  poled  slowly  over  the  water.  As 
the  light  of  the  burning  pines  would  throw  a  big 
glare  over  the  lake  we  would  watch  for  the  fish  with 
gig  in  hand,  and  every  time  we  would  see  one  lying 
on  the  water  down  went  our  gig,  and  the  fish  was 
gigged,  or  perhaps — and  this  happened  quite  often — 
we  missed  it  altogether,  and  that  was  so  much  the 
better  for  the  fish.  This  was  a  great  pastime,  and 
we  enjoyed  it  very  much. 


182 


Our  Outfit  Leaving  Stai^ky's  Ranch  with  Pack  Train. 


XXIII. 
SHEEP  HUNTING* 


THE  various  outdoor  amusements  we  were  able 
to  indulge  in  at  Henry's  Lake  made  the  days 
pass  very  agreeably,  and  we  never  found 
ourselves  at  a  loss  of  having  something  to  do^  But 
in  the  meantime  Ed.  Staley,  who  had  accompanied 
the  rest  of  the  Custer  Trail  Ranch  party  as  far  as 
Cinnabar,  returned  home,  and  it  was  now  'proposed 
to  make  a  hunting  trip  into  the  Sheep  Mountains. 
This  mountain  range  in  Idaho  rises  to  an  elevation  of 
over  10,000  feet,  is  a  great  resort  for  many  wild 
beasts,  such  as  bear,  elk,  deer  and  grouse,  as  well 
as  mountain  sheep.  The  scenery  is  very  pictur-^ 
esque  and  romantic.  The  pleasures  of  the  trip  were 
described  to  us  in  such  attractive  colors  that  we  did 
not  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  accept  this  opportunity. 

We  expected  to  be  away  about  ten  days,  and 
hence  it  was  necessary  to  take  a  train  of  pack  horses 
with  us  to  carry  our  beds  and  provisions.  Wagons, 
of  course,  could  not  be  used  on  such  a  journey,  be- 
cause with  them  we  could  not  climb  the  mountains. 

It  was  early  in  the  morning  when  we  left  the 
ranch  and  started  for  the  mountains.  Our  outfit 
consisted  of  five  pack  horses,  each  carrying  three 

Its 


When  I  Went  West. 

hundred  pounds  of  freight.  Ed.  Staley  rode  ahead 
and  we  brought  up  the  rear.  Our  road  brought  us 
once  more  to  the  Continental  Divide  at  a  point, 
where  on  one  side  were  the  waters  of  Henry's  Lake, 
the  Snake  river  and  the  Columbia  river  flowed  west- 
ward towards  the  Pacific  Ocean,  while  on  the  East 
we  saw  the  Madison  river  wind  its  way  into  the 
Missouri  until  it  eventually  reached  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

We  rode  along  all  day  up  to  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  when  we  camped  on  Beaver  Creek,  which 
is  a  beautiful,  clear  mountain  stream.  We  had 
already  reached  an  altitude  of  7, 500  feet  and  it  was 
getting  cold.  Just  as  we  arrived  at  our  camping 
place  we  noticed  two  coyotes,  one  of  which  we 
killed.  The  creek  contained  a  number  of  graylings, 
and  it  did  not  take  us  long  to  catch  a  nice  mess  of 
these  delicious  fish. 

The  real  ascent  of  the  mountains  did  not  begin 
until  the  next  day,  when  we  left  our  camp  at  noon. 
We  had  not  seen  a  house  nor  any  other  sign  of 
human  habitation  since  the  morning  of  the  previous 
day,  and  the  further  we  climbed  up  this  mountain 
the  further  we  left  the  world  and  civilization  behind 
us.  But  if  you  want  to  hunt  mountain  sheep  you 
must  go  where  the  sheep  are,  and  so  we  trotted 

134 


Sheep  Hunting. 

bravely,  hopefully  and  joyfully  along.  Our  route 
followed  a  mountain  trail  along  the  banks  of  the 
Beaver  Creek,  the  waters  of  which  rippled  down 
its  mountain  bed  some  200  feet  below  us.  The 
trail  was  very  narrow,  and  we  had  to  travel  single 
file.  To  anyone  who  is  not  accustomed  to  that 
mode  of  riding  it  looked  very  dangerous,  because  if 
your  horse  or  pony  made  one  misstep  the  chances 
were  very  much  in  favor  of  your  rolling  down  the 
declivity,  which  meant  almost  certain  death.  But 
no  accident  happened  to  any  of  us,  and  we  arrived 
in  the  evening  at  the  extreme  headwaters  of  the 
Beaver  Creek,  where  we  went  into  camp. 

During  our  ride  that  day  we  had  climbed  2,000 
feet,  and  all  of  us  felt  the  effects  of  the  change  in 
the  atmosphere.  We  had  passed  above  the  timber 
line  and  through  an  immense  snow  drift,  and  although 
this  was  the  month  of  August,  we  were  in  a  regular 
wintry  landscape.  Large  banks  of  snow  and  ice 
surrounded  us,  and  the  wind  whistled  sharp  and  cut- 
ting over  our  camp.  Soon,  however,  we  had  a  big, 
roaring  fire  going,  our  horses  were  unpacked  and 
then  supper  was  under  way,  all  of  which  quickly 
transported  us  into  a  very  comfortable,  happy  mood. 

At  nine  the  next  morning  we  were  all  ready  for 
the  continuation  of  our  march.     The  peak  of  the 

116 


Whkn  I  Wknt  WnsT. 

mountain,  which  we  had  to  ascend  to  get  to  the 
place  where  the  sheep  were  to  be  found,  loomed 
straight  above  us.  It  meant  a  climb  of  a  half  mile 
direct  up.  Presently  the  road  became  so  narrow  and 
steep  that  we  had  to  get  off  our  horses.  But  at  last 
we  doubled  the  summit  and  then  we  descended  into 
a  wide  valley.  On  the  right  of  us  we  observed  an 
immense  mountain  peak  11,500  feet  high  and  all 
covered  with  snow.  At  the  time  we  saw  it  a  terrific 
snow  storm  was  raging  about  the  crown  of  the  peak, 
and  we  were  glad  that  we  were  not  in  it.  The 
valley  which  we  entered  presented  a  beautiful  piece 
of  natural  scenery  at  our  feet.  It  was  covered  with 
a  number  of  small  lakes,  the  waters  of  which  were 
as  clear  as  crystal  and  smooth  as  a  mirror,  reflecting 
the  surrounding  landscape  as  in  a  looking  glass.  We 
had  to  traverse  this  valley  to  get  to  the  place  where 
the  sheep  were  supposed  to  be.  We  camped  here 
while  the  hunters  went  after  the  quarry,  and  much 
to  my  surprise  they  returned  about  five  o'clock  with 
a  very  beautiful  buck.  The  next  day  another  region 
of  this  country  was  hunted  over,  but  the  sheep  must 
have  known  we  were  coming,  because  wherever  we 
went  the  sheep  seemed  to  have  disappeared.  By 
this  time  the  high  altitude  had  made  me  very  un- 
comfortable.    My   head   ached   and   throbbed   con- 

136 


Sheep  Hunting. 

stantly,  so  that  sleep  for  me  was  out  of  the  question, 
and  when  the  boys  announced  that  evening  that  they 
had  had  enough  of  sheep  hunting  and  were  ready 
to  return  home  the  next  morning,  I  was  glad  to  hear 
it. 

About  noon  the  following  day  we  had  our  pack 
train  shaped  up  and  now  began  our  journey  down  the 
mountain.  To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  speed  we 
displayed  on  our  return  trip  I  need  only  tell  you  that 
we  covered  sixty  miles  that  day,  going  into  camp 
at  seven  o'clock  that  evening  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  Madison  river.  We  were  all  very  tired  and 
hungry,  as  during  the  entire  march  we  had  only 
stopped  long  enough  to  water  our  horses  when  they 
needed  it. 

We  had  left  the  winter  scenes  of  the  mountains 
long  behind  us,  and  our  camp  was  quite  comfortable. 
I  remember  distinctly  that  the  fried  bacon  that  even- 
ing had  a  relish  and  a  taste  delicious  beyond  com- 
pare. 

We  liked  this  camping  place,  so  we  stayed  all  the 
next  day,  enjoying  ourselves  hunting  and  fishing. 

I  discovered  the  cabin  of  a  trapper  near  our  camp, 
and  I  paid  him  a  visit.  This  trapper  was  just  get- 
ting ready  establishing  himself  for  the  winter.  His 
shack  was  very  comfortable.     It  had  a  good  stove 

lt7 


When  I  Wknt  West. 

and  an  excellent  bunk.  His  stock  of  provisions  was 
also  quite  ample,  so  he  said.  He  was  now  getting 
his  traps  in  shape  for  the  ''varmints,"  as  he  called 
them. 

I  have  often  since  wondered  how  this  man  could 
find  any  attraction  in  a  life  such  as  he  leads.  Here 
he  lived  in  a  perfect  wilderness,  fifteen  miles  away 
from  his  nearest  neighbor.  Soon  he  expected  to  be 
snowed  in  by  a  depth  of  probably  fifteen  feet.  And 
yet  the  old  man  seemed  to  be  very  happy  and  con- 
tented. He  had  a  violin  which  he  played,  but  the 
tunes  that  he  knew  seemed  to  be  all  of  a  doleful, 
plaintive  melody,  and  they  always  filled  me  with 
a  touch  of  sadness. 

The  next  day  we  left  for  Henry's  Lake,  and  when 
we  got  into  our  beds  once  more  at  the  shack  that 
night  we  slept  better  than  we  had  done  for  a  long 
time. 

There  was  a  game  park  near  the  ranch  called 
Rocks  Game  Park,  which  I  visited  and  where  I  saw 
a  large  number  of  buffalo,  elk,  deer  and  mountain 
sheep.  These  animals  had  been  captured  at  differ- 
ent times  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  The  herd 
of  buffalo  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  few  in  this  country. 


188 


XXIV. 
TRAVELING  ALL  ALONE. 


IT  WAS  now  two  months  since  Bert,  Jack  and  I 
had  left  home,  and  during  that  period  we  had 
been  together  nearly  all  the  time,  on  the  train, 
in  the  shack,  on  the  prairie,  in  the  Yellowstone  and 
at  last  up  on  the  Sheep  Mountains.  The  result  was 
that  we  had  formed  an  attachment  for  each  other 
which  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have 
had  a  similar  experience  to  ours. 

However,  we  were  now  going  to  separate,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  I  had  to  leave  them  and  go  on  a 
journey  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  I  am  merely  stating 
the  truth,  therefore,  when  I  say  that  I  looked  for- 
ward to  this  journey  without  any  extra  amount  of 
enthusiasm.  And  that  my  premonitions  were  borne 
out  by  the  subsequent  facts  I  learned  before  very 
long. 

Traveling  in  itself  is  supposed  to  be  by  many 
people  a  great  enjoyment,  but  traveling  alone  after 
you  have  been  journeying  several  thousand  miles  in 
the  companionship  of  a  congenial  party  is  very  dis- 
appointing.    You  do  not  take  the  same  interest  in 

140 


Stage  Coach  From  Lewiston  to  Grangevii.i,e. 


Traveling  All  Alone. 

the  sights,  and  whatever  you  see  appeals  to  you 
quite  differently  and  things  appear  to  you  in  a  much 
different  light. 

With  these  feelings  on  my  mind  you  will  readily 
understand  that  when  I  said  ''Good-bye'*  to  them 
this  ceremony  was  more  to  me  than  the  mere  dis- 
charge of  a  formal  custom. 

The  stage  was  waiting  for  me  on  the  morning  of 
the  first  of  September  in  front  of  the  ranch,  and 
waving  my  last  farewell,  I  was  off. 

The  stage  took  me  to  Monida,  a  little  town  on  the 
dividing  line  of  Idaho  and  Montana,  where  I  arrived 
in  the  evening,  immediately  getting  into  the  train  on 
my  way  to  Butte,  Montana. 

Butte,  as  everybody  knows,  is  a  great  mining 
centre,  and  I  found  a  very  hustling  city.  After  the 
train  pulled  into  the  station  the  next  morning  and  1 
had  got  off  I  made  a  bee  line  for  the  Hotel  Butte. 
Here  I  got  shaved,  took  a  bath,  put  on  a  white  shirt; 
in  fact,  I  adopted  once  more  the  costume  of  modern 
civilization,  and  when  I  looked  in  the  glass  I  scarcely 
knew  myself. 

Butte  has  many  fine  stores,  an  abundance  of  wide 
open  gambling  saloons,  and  withal  a  very  prosper- 
ous appearance. 


141 


When  I  Went  West. 

There  are  a  great  many  smelters  in  the  town, 
and  the  fumes  thereof  make  it  difficult  for  any  vege- 
tation to  thrive  here,  and  hence  1  saw  neither  flowers 
nor  trees  anywhere. 

The  following  morning  I  left  Butte  for  Spokane, 
Washington.  On  the  train  I  met  some  friends  bound 
for  the  same  destination,  and  this  made  the  ride  very 
enjoyable.  At  Hope  Station  we  had  to  turn  our 
watches  back  one  hour  on  account  of  the  fact  that 
from  that  place  West  everything  goes  by  Pacific 
time. 

It  was  late  at  night  when  I  arrived  at  Spokane, 
and  tired  as  I  was  I  hurried  off  to  bed.  But  the  fol- 
lowing morning  I  had  an  opportunity  of  taking  a 
look  at  the  city,  and  I  was  very  much  impressed 
with  the  many  fme  business  buildings  as  well  as 
handsome  residences  1  observed.  Everybody  in 
Spokane,  at  least  so  it  seemed  to  me,  made  his  liv- 
ing by  mining,  because  it  was  the  only  subject  dis- 
cussed while  I  was  there.  The  papers  contained  no 
information  except  stories  about  mining,  and  the 
advertisements  they  contained  were  about  mining 
stocks  and  bonds  from  one  cent  per  share  up  to  any 
amount.  Wherever  I  went  I  heard  them  talking 
about  shafts,  drifts,  assays,  planes,  smelters,  quartz, 
etc.,  and  in  the  hotel  there  was  on  exhibition  a  check 

142 


TRAVEI.ING  All  Alone. 

for  one  million  dollars,  which  had  been  given  in  pay- 
ment for  a  mine  in  this  section. 

From  Spokane  I  was  bound  for  Florence,  Idaho, 
and  on  this  journey  I  traveled  through  the  wonderful 
Palouse  Valley  as  far  as  Lewiston.  The  Palouse 
Valley  is  justly  celebrated  as  a  great  wheat  growing 
country,  and  as  it  was  just  about  harvest  time  when 
1  passed  through  there,  I  had  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  immense  fields  where  hundreds 
of  men  and  horses  were  occupied  with  all  manner  of 
steam  harvesting  appliances.  I  was  told  that  the 
crop  that  season  would  average  forty  bushels  to  the 
acre. 

At  Lewiston  I  stopped  over  night  at  the  Raymond 
Hotel,  and  upon  inquiry  I  found  that  to  get  to  Flor- 
ence 1  should  have  to  go  to  Grangeville,  seventy-five 
miles  by  stage,  and  from  there  in  a  private  convey- 
ance for  fifty  miles  to  Florence. 

Lewiston  is  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Snake 
and  the  Clear  Water  rivers.  There  had  been  a  new 
mining  camp  opened  up  at  Buffalo  Hump,  a  short 
distance  from  Lewiston,  and  the  excitement  in  the 
old  town  was  great  on  this  account.  The  place  did 
not  have  sufficient  hotels  and  lodging  houses  to 
accommodate  all  the  strangers,  and  throughout  the 


itf 


When  I  Went  West. 

streets  tents  were  put  up,  where  miners,  prospectors, 
movers  and  campers  were  domiciled. 

It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the  stage 
arrived  to  take  me  to  Grangeville.  The  weather 
was  cold  and  I  put  on  my  rubber  coat,  a  sweater,  as 
well  as  a  pair  of  leggings.  The  candles  were  still 
burning  in  the  old-fashioned  stage  lamps  when  we 
started  on  this  journey,  and  the  day  did  not  dawn 
until  some  time  after  we  had  left  the  town. 

*'A11  set!'*  yelled  the  driver,  then  he  cracked  his 
whip  and  the  six  horses  in  front  of  the  lumbering 
stage  coach  were  off. 

For  twenty  miles  the  road  seemed  to  go  all  the 
way  uphill,  and  our  horses  never  went  faster  than  a 
walk.  At  last,  when  we  got  on  the  other  side  of  the 
hill,  the  mud  from  the  recent  rains  made  the  progress 
equally  difficult.  I  had  several  fellow-sufferers  in 
the  stage  with  me,  and  I  feel  sure  none  of  us  will 
forget  that  ride  while  we  live. 

Our  route  lay  over  the  battle  ground  of  1877  be- 
tween the  Nez  Perce  Indians  under  Chief  Joseph 
and  the  United  States  troops  under  General  Howard. 
Near  the  little  town  of  Cottonwood  we  saw  the  grave 
of  Captain  Foster,  who,  with  eleven  of  his  men,  was 
killed  here  at  the  beginning  of  the  revolt  of  the 
Indians.    We  also  passed  through  the  Camas  Prairie, 


TravkIvING  Ai,i,  Alone. 

which  is  said  to  have  been  the  old  hunting  ground  of 
the  Nez  Perce  Indians. 

When  we  got  to  Grangeville  at  six  o'clock  we 
were  hungry,  tired  and  completely  fagged  out. 

The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  was  one  of  the  old- 
fashioned  fellows  who  looked  after  the  wants  and 
comforts  of  his  guests  personally. 

The  hotel  was  being  improved  with  new  plate 
glass  windows,  which  I  discovered  were  of  Pittsburg 
manufacture. 

Another  innovation  was  an  acetyline  gas  appa- 
ratus, the  product  of  which* shed  its  mellow  light  all 
over  the  lower  floor  of  the  hotel,  but  per  contrast  I 
went  to  bed  lighting  my  way  with  an  old-fashioned 
tallow  candle-stick,  and  I  wondered  at  the  odd  co- 
incidence that  I  should  have  had  to  come  to  a  place 
like  Grangeville,  in  the  far  West,  seventy -five  miles 
from  the  railroad,  and  find  there  one  of  the  oldest  as 
well  as  the  most  modern  forms  of  illumination. 


itf 


XXV. 
THE  OLD  FLORENCE  CAMP* 


I  WAS  obliged  to  stay  in  Grangeville  longer  than 
1  had  any  intention,  because  the  roads  were  in 
such  bad  shape  that  the  stage  decided  not  to 
take  its  regular  daily  trip.  This  forced  me  to  hunt 
up  a  private  conveyance,  and  it  was  noon  when  I  at 
last  got  away  on  my  fifty  mile  journey.  The  day 
was  very  pleasant  and  the  air  bracing.  Getting  out 
of  Grangeville  we  struck  a  long,  winding  road  through 
Mount  Idaho  that  seemed  to  be  endless  and  everlast- 
ingly uphill.  Nevertheless  we  managed  to  reach 
the  summit  at  last.  The  going  was  exceedingly  bad; 
in  many  places  our  horses  sank  into  the  mud  up 
to  their  knees,  and  it  would  have  been  cruel  to  make 
them  go  faster  than  a  walk. 

The  landlord  at  the  hotel  in  Grangeville  had  said 
that  we  would  find  the  road  better  after  we  got  out 
of  the  woods,  and  as  we  never  did  get  out  of  them 
he  was  probably  right. 

At  one  place  we  passed  a  man  who  was  putting 
timber  down  to  make  a  kind  of  corduroy  road,  and 


The  Old  Fi^orence  Camp. 

when  I  complained  to  him  about  the  terrible  con- 
dition of  the  road,  he  remarked: 

"You  will  find  them  better  now;  I've  been 
a-workin'  on  'em.*' 

But  his  partiality  for  the  truth  was  not  of  much 
account,  because  the  roads  became  even  worse  as  we 
went  further. 

When  leaving  Grangeville  I  was  told  that  I  could 
not  reach  Florence  in  one  day  and  1  found  I  would 
have  to  stay  at  Adams  Camp  over  night,  about 
twenty -five  miles  on  the  way.  I  soon  discovered 
that  my  driver  had  never  been  over  the  road  before 
and  was  as  much  of  a  stranger  to  it  as  I  was. 
For  a  larger  part  of  the  way  our  road  lay  through 
an  immense  forest,  just  wide  enough  for  one  vehicle, 
so  that  in  passing  a  conveyance  coming  in  the  op- 
posite direction  we  would  have  to  look  for  a  "turn 
out'*  place,  which  was  provided  for  every  mile 
or  so  on  one  or  the  other  side  of  the  road.  We 
passed  one  or  two  houses,  but  no  other  signs  of 
civilization  were  to  be  seen.  The  sun  was  quite 
warm,  but  where  the  road  was  heavily  timbered  it 
was  cold  and  I  had  to  wear  my  sweater  and  gum 
coat  pretty  much  all  day. 

We  met  a  few  persons  of  whom  we  inquired  the 
way,  and  when  we  would  ask:  **How  far  to  Adams 

147 


Whkn  I  Wknt  West. 

Camp?**  at  first  the  answer  was  about  twelve  miles; 
then  it  was  about  fifteen  miles,  and  so  on  until  it 
appeared  that  the  further  we  traveled  the  longer  the 
distance  seemed  to  be  to  reach  our  stopping  place  for 
the  night.  We  finally  reached  what  seemed  to  be 
the  crown  or  top  of  the  mountain,  and  away  off  to 
our  left  some  forty  miles  could  be  seen  the  "Hump," 
a  great  mountain  in  the  shape  of  the  well-known 
hump  of  the  buffalo;  hence  its  name. 

At  this  point  there  was  a  new  mining  camp  just 
opened,  which  I  believe  had  then  a  population  of 
3,000  or  4,000.  All  the  supplies  for  this  camp  had 
to  be  hauled  by  wagon  from  Lewiston  to  Adams 
Camp,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  where  they 
were  unloaded  and  then  placed  on  the  backs  of 
horses  and  taken  into  camp  some  twenty  miles 
further.  The  road  from  Adams  Camp  to  the  Hump 
was  an  old  trail  and  vehicles  could  not  travel  it  at 
all,  so  that  everything  for  this  little  community  of 
3,000  or  4,000  persons  had  to  be  packed  on  the 
backs  of  horses.  We  met  quite  a  number  of  these 
pack  trains  going  and  coming,  and  also  met  a  num- 
ber of  ''freighters*'  of  large  wagons,  hauled  by  four 
and  six  horses,  whose  business  it  is  to  carry  sup- 
plies from  Lewiston  to  Grangeville  and  to  Adams 


148 


Adams  Camp,  Idaho. 


The  O1.D  Fu)RENCS  Camp. 

Camp,  traveling  as  far  as  they  can  each  day  and 
going  into  camp  wherever  night  overtakes  them. 

Sometimes  the  Hump  seemed  to  be  quite  near  to 
us,  and  then  again  a  turn  in  the  road  would  change 
the  whole  appearance  of  it.  Thus  we  went  on  for  a 
greater  part  of  the  afternoon,  and  I  was  really  be- 
ginning to  wonder  if  we  ever  would  get  to  Adams 
Camp  at  all.  It  was  gradually  getting  dusk  and 
we  soon  found  ourselves  in  a  dense  wood,  where  it 
was  pitch  dark  and  we  could  not  see  the  road  at  all. 
My  driver  gave  his  horses  their  head  and  let  them 
find  the  way  as  best  they  could. 

We  were  going  down  a  terrible  hill,  trusting  en- 
tirely to  the  horses,  when  we  heard  a  clatter  of 
hoofs  behind  us.  We  stopped  our  team  and  were 
passed  by  two  men  on  horseback,  one  of  whom 
turned  out  to  be  a  mining  engineer  on  his  way 
to  the  Hump,  and  who  was  going  to  stop  at 
Adams  Camp  for  the  night.  With  him  was  an 
Englishman,  who  was  out  there  looking  after  some 
property.  We  greeted  them  with  the  same  ques- 
tion, "How  far  to  Adams  Camp?"  and  to  our  satis- 
faction we  were  told:  **Just  a  mile;  when  you  get 
around  the  turn  you  can  see  the  light.'* 

We  hurried  on  as  best  we  could,  and  sure  enough 
there  was  a  'Might  in  the  window.*'    Way  down 

148 


When  I  Went  West. 

the  valley,  at  the  foot  of  this  terrible  hill,  the 
light  of  Adams  Camp  could  be  seen;  not  very  much 
of  a  light,  but  it  was  enough  to  let  us  know  we  were 
within  reach  of  our  stopping  place  for  the  night.  No 
light  was  ever  more  welcome  to  me  than  this  was, 
for  I  was  cold,  tired,  hungry  and  sleepy,  and  for  the 
last  two  hours  had  felt  that  there  was  a  good  pros- 
pect of  having  to  sleep  out  in  the  woods  all  night, 
without  having  made  any  provision  for  this  sort  of  ex- 
perience. Was  it  any  wonder  that  I  was  glad  to 
know  that  there  was  some  shelter  in  sight? 

We  arrived  at  the  camp  about  half-past  eight. 
Mr.  Pew,  the  proprietor,  made  us  welcome.  The 
mining  engineer,  who  had  gone  before  us,  proved 
himself  a  good  friend  in  ordering  supper  for  us, 
and  about  the  time  we  arrived  this  meal  was  an- 
nounced. 

We  found  at  the  camp  some  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miners,  prospectors,  etc.,  all  of  whom  were  going  to 
or  coming  from  the  Hump. 

Adams  Camp  was  not  much  of  a  place  and  did  not 
look  very  inviting  to  a  weary  traveler,  but  there 
was  not  another  human  habitation  within  fifteen 
miles,  hence  I  had  to  make  the  best  of  the  worst  and 
be  satisfied.     The  place  consisted  of  two  log  houses. 


160 


The  Old  Florence  Camp. 

one  of  which  was  occupied  by  the  proprietor  and  his 
family  and  the  other  was  for  the  lodgers. 

I  was  agreeably  surprised  when  the  supper  was 
brought  before  me,  because  it  really  was  much  bet- 
ter than  I  expected,  but  I  have  since  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  should  probably  have  expressed  a 
different  opinion  if  1  had  not  been  made  so  very 
hungry  by  that  awful  drive. 

The  guests  at  this  place  were  composed  of  men 
from  almost  every  walk  of  life.  Two  of  these,  the 
mining  engineer,  who  seemed  to  be  very  bright  and 
intelligent,  and  the  Englishman,  I  had  already  met. 
We  sat  around  the  office  after  supper  smoking  our 
pipes  and  listening  to  all  kinds  of  mining  stories. 
This  lasted  until  ten  o'clock,  when  our  landlord 
came  in,  and  without  asking  *'by  your  leave,'*  he 
walked  right  into  the  middle  of  our  sociable  circle. 

"Here,  you,"  he  addressed  one  of  the  guests, 
"you  sleep  with  him,"  pointing  to  another;  and  so 
he  went  around  the  crowd  until  we  were  all  disposed 
of  to  his  satisfaction. 

I  thought  at  the  time  that  this  was  a  very  extraor- 
dinary proceeding  and  it  struck  me  as  very  ludicrous, 
but  no  one  seemed  to  think  it  out  of  the  ordinary,  so 
it  must  have  been  the  custom  of  Adams  Camp.  I 
will  therefore  say  no  more  about  it. 

151 


When  I  Went  West. 

I  was  exceedingly  tired  and  as  soon  as  I  got  to  bed 
went  to  sleep.  According  to  the  account  of  the 
Englishman,  however,  there  must  have  been  quite  a 
racket  going  on  in  our  room  during  the  night,  be- 
cause he  complained  long  and  loudly  at  breakfast 
the  next  morning  of  a  man  who  had  snored  as  if  a 
whole  drove  of  pigs  had  been  driven  through  the 
place. 

I  got  another  sample  of  the  abruptness  of  our 
landlord  when  he  came  to  wake  us.  He  just  strode 
into  the  room  with  a  lighted  lantern,  shook  it  over 
our  beds  and  then  said,  **Get  up!**  after  which 
expression  he  turned  away  without  any  further  ado. 

At  six  o'clock  I  jumped  into  my  rig  once  more  to 
complete  the  last  stage  of  my  trip  to  Florence,  where 
1  arrived  about  noon.  In  the  sixties  this  was  a  very 
flourishing  place,  and  many  millions  of  gold  were 
taken  out  of  the  ground  here.  Even  now  there 
are  miners  hard  at  work  at  the  old  camp,  and  when 
I  passed  through  they  seemed  to  be  still  getting 
some  gold. 

But  Florence  is  now  practically  abandoned.  It 
has  one  store,  a  few  saloons  and  a  hotel.  At  the 
latter  I  stopped  for  the  night,  and  I  found  it  a 
typical  miners'  home. 


ttS 


The  OivD  Florence  Camp. 

I  had  some  business  to  attend  to  here,  which  I 
transacted  in  the  afternoon,  and  early  the  following 
morning  I  had  my  team  headed  once  more  for 
Grangeville.  The  weather  had  changed  over  night 
for  the  better.  The  sun  was  shining,  the  roads 
were  somewhat  dried  up,  and  our  going  was  there- 
fore correspondingly  easier.  We  passed  Adams 
Camp  at  noon  and  stopped  for  dinner,  arriving  in 
Grangeville  early  in  the  afternoon. 

We  had  found  a  considerable  amount  of  traffic  on 
the  road,  consisting  of  freighters  and  pack  trains,  all 
bound  for  the  mines  at  Buffalo  Hump.  Some  of 
these  pack  trains  counted  thirty  and  forty  head  of 
horses,  and  quite  a  few  were  in  charge  of  Nez  Perce 
Indians.  This  reminds  me  that  we  also  met  several 
parties  of  Indians,  men,  women  and  children,  all  on 
horseback,  going  in  every  direction. 

In  Grangeville  I  stopped  over  night  and  the  follow- 
ing morning  climbed  once  more  into  the  stage  coach 
to  make  my  return  to  Lewiston  and  then  to  Spokane, 
where  I  was  delighted  to  find  some  letters  and  papers 
from  home.  On  this  trip  I  had  two  stage  compan- 
ions who  were  typical  prospectors.  They  had  come 
in  from  the  "Hump**  and  were  on  their  way  to 
Seattle. 


lU 


When  I  Wknt  West. 

This  little  side  trip  to  Florence  had  been  a  very 
rough  journey,  but  on  the  whole  it  was  an  altogether 
new  experience  to  me,  and  I  did  not  think  the  time 
and  trouble  wasted.  I  had  often  heard  of  the 
romance  connected  with  stage  coach  traveling,  but 
now  that  I  had  ridden  in  an  old-fashioned  stage  my- 
self for  300  miles,  I  found  there  was  little  romance 
in  it. 


154 


XXVI. 
SEATTLE  AND  TACOMA 


t^ROM  Spokane  I  went  to  Seattle  by  the  Great 
\(  Northern  Railroad,  a  ride  which  lasted  all  the 
^  next  day.  But  I  found  some  acquaintances 
on  the  train,  and  as  we  also  passed  through  some 
very  interesting  sections  of  the  country,  the  time 
slipped  by  very  agreeably. 

For  some  distance  the  formation  reminded  me  of 
the  "Palisades"  on  a  small  scale.  Then  we  struck 
a  section  of  desert,  where  an  insignificant  growth  of 
sage  brush  and  alkali  were  the  prominent  features. 

But  going  down  the  Wenatchee  Valley  the  country 
was  more  interesting.  The  soil  and  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  the  land  are  very  much  like  Southern 
California,  and  a  very  extensive  system  of  irrigation 
is  being  introduced.  The  Japanese  trade  winds,  so 
called,  predominate  in  this  valley,  which  produce  a 
mild,  pleasant  climate,  not  unlike  the  climate  of 
Southern  California. 

As  we  passed  through  the  Tum  Water  Canon  we 
saw  a  beautiful  stream  rushing,  rippling  and  tum- 
bling along,  and  this  river,  with  the  immense  forest 
trees  on  either  side,  presented  a  fine  piece  of  scenery. 

155 


When  I  Went  Wkst. 

Soon  we  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  Cascade  Mount- 
ains and  from  here  our  train  began  to  climb  higher 
and  higher  until  we  reached  what  is  known  as  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Switchback  Railroad,  which  takes 
you  clean  over  the  mountains. 

This  switchback  railroad  consists  of  a  system  of 
switches  or  zigzags,  of  which  there  are  three  on  the 
eastern  and  five  on  the  western  side  of  the  mountain. 
The  greatest  elevation  is  4,000  feet,  and  these 
switchbacks  lift  the  train  650  feet  to  the  summit, 
and  then  the  western  switchbacks  let  it  down  on  the 
other  side.  On  the  eastern  side  we  were  surrounded 
by  a  regular  winter  scene.  It  was  snowing  and 
sleeting,  but  when  we  arrived  on  the  opposite  side 
we  were  landed  in  a  heavy  fog  and  mist. 

The  railroad  is  now  constructing  a  tunnel  through 
the  Cascade  Mountain,  and  the  Switchback  Railroad 
I  mentioned  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  temperature  was  now  much  milder,  although 
we  were  still  surrounded  by  this  heavy  mist,  which 
is  said  to  prevail  in  that  part  of  the  country  on 
account  of  the  mild  Chinoock  winds. 

1  got  into  Seattle  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening 
and  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  a  comfortable  hotel. 

Seattle  impressed  me  as  a  very  prosperous  city, 
no  doubt  the   result  of  the  Klondike  excitement, 

166 


Ostrich  Farm,  Cawfornia. 


SEATTI.E  AND  TaCOMA. 

which  was  then  at  its  height.  The  place  is  laid  out 
somewhat  like  San  Francisco,  with  triangles  at  the 
corner  of  the  main  street.  The  railroad  station  is 
located  at  the  water  front,  and  it  is  built  on  a  wharf 
constructed  of  piles,  which  extend  over  the  water. 
The  city  has  some  fine  stores  and  buildings,  and  the 
people  move  about  as  if  they  were  all  very  busy. 
Dealing  in  mine  supplies  seems  to  be  the  chief  trade. 
While  I  was  there  the  steamer  Humboldt  sailed  for 
the  Klondike  crowded  from  bow  to  stern  with  freight 
and  passengers,  and  the  scene  on  the  wharf  just 
before  sailing  time  was  very  interesting.  The  Klon- 
dike was  the  sole  topic  of  conversation. 

"Are  you  going  in  again?'*  "When  did  you  come 
out.?"  "Did  you  sell  your  claims.?"  and  "How  did 
you  get  along  in  there?"  were  the  questions  one 
heard  on  all  sides. 

I  did  not  like  the  weather  of  Seattle.  It  was  not 
exactly  raining,  but  there  was  a  drizzle  falling  con- 
stantly, which  compelled  one  to  keep  an  umbrella 
up  all  the  time.  The  elevator  boy  in  the  hotel 
shared  this  feeling  with  me.  He  told  me  they  never 
had  any  snow  in  Seattle  in  the  winter,  nothing  but 
rain,  rain. 

When  1  left  Seattle  I  took  a  small  steamer  called 
the  "Flyer,"  which  carried  me  to  Tacoma,  thirty 

Iff? 


Whkn  I  WsNT  West. 

miles  away,  in  about  an  hour.  I  enjoyed  this  ride 
on  the  Grand  Puget  Sound  very  much. 

The  situation  of  the  city  of  Tacoma  is  very  beau- 
tiful, it  being  located  on  a  bluff,  and  when  I  landed 
there  I  found  myself  at  the  foot  of  a  long  winding 
road,  something  similar  to  the  Cleveland  landing. 

One  of  the  very  first  sights  I  saw  was  a  very 
large  mountain  in  the  distance,  seventy  miles  away; 
which  I  was  told  is  Mount  Tacoma.  In  Seattle  they 
call  this  same  peak  Mount  Rainer,  which  is  a  dis- 
tinction without  a  difference. 

Tacoma  had  a  boom  some  twenty  years  ago,  but 
nothing  but  a  memory  has  remained.  This  memory 
is  visible  in  the  shape  of  beautiful  buildings  erected 
out  of  Pompeiian  brick,  which  would  be  an  ornament 
to  New  York  or  Chicago.  The  City  Hall  is  built  of 
the  same  material,  and  it  is  large  enough  for  a  city 
three  times  the  size  of  Tacoma.  The  very  fine 
Grand  Opera  House  is  abandoned,  and  numerous 
stores  and  office  buildings  are  idle.  The  city  has 
also  a  very  attractive  park;  indeed,  Tacoma  is  alto- 
gether a  delightful  city,  but,  to  use  a  vulgarism, 
*'there  is  nothing  doing." 

I  met  some  nice  people  while  I  was  there  and  they 
helped  me  to  pass  the  greater  part  of  a  day  very 
pleasantly. 

158 


XXVII. 
CALIFORNIA* 


REAVING  Tacoma  by  a  night  train,  I  arrived  the 
I  the  following  morning  in  Portland,  Ore. 

1^  ^^  Portland  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
cities  I  have  ever  seen.  It  is  a  remarkably 
clean  place,  full  of  fine  business  houses,  stores  and 
residences.  Every  home  seemed  to  be  surrounded 
by  a  complete  flower  garden.  Roses  and  sweet 
peas  were  in  bloom  everywhere,  and  strawberries 
could  be  had  in  abundance.  The  climate  seems  to 
be  delightful,  and  as  the  weather  was  magnificent 
while  I  was  there,  you  can  readily  understand  why 
my  impressions  of  Portland  are  so  pleasant.  Being 
then  the  month  of  September,  the  many  flowers  and 
blossoms  were  quite  a  revelation  to  me,  and  one  of 
my  first  thoughts  was  that  this  ought  to  be  called 
the  "Flowery  City.'* 

I  stopped  at  the  Portland,  and  if  there  is  a  finer 
hotel  anywhere  on  the  coast  I  have  not  seen  it. 

I  noticed  a  number  of  boats  on  the  Willamette 
river,  which  floats  by  here,  that  were  a  sort  of  cross 

109 


When  I  Went  Wkst. 

between  the  side-wheeler  and  our  well-known  stern 
wheel  boats  of  the  Monongahela  and  Ohio. 

One  remarkable  thing  I  observed  in  Portland,  and 
that  was  that  the  chimney  sweeps  are  great  adver- 
tisers. It  was  not  an  unusual  sight  to  see  men  going 
along  the  streets  with  large  cards  on  their  hats,  call- 
ing the  attention  of  the  passerby  to  the  fact  that  John 
Smith  or  Jim  Brown  are  the  best  chimney  sweeps  in 
all  Portland. 

I  took  a  ride  up  the  hill  overlooking  the  city,  from 
where  I  enjoyed  a  beautiful  view.  Away  off  to  the 
right  I  saw  Mt.  St.  Helena,  Mt.  Adams  and  Mt. 
Hood.  I  had  fallen  in  love  with  this  city  and  I  was 
sorry  when  I  had  to  take  my  departure. 

On  my  way  to  San  Francisco  I  stopped  over  for 
one  day  at  the  famous  Shasta  Springs.  The  scenery 
along  the  railroad  from  Portland  is  quite  varied.  In 
some  places  it  is  dreary  like  the  desert,  but  in  some 
parts  of  the  Siskiyu  Valley  we  passed  immense 
fruit  ranches.  I  was  riding  in  the  observation  car 
for  the  most  part  of  the  afternoon,  and  as  our  iron 
horse  puffed  and  snorted  its  way  over  the  winding 
track  I  had  almost  constantly  a  view  of  grand  *'01d 
Mount  Shasta,*'  which  is  15,000  feet  high  and  snow- 
capped. 


160 


Magnoua  Avenue,  Riverside,  Caufornia. 


Cawfornia. 

At  Shasta  Springs  I  spent  a  very  restful  day;  in- 
deed, I  felt  that  I  was  greatly  in  need  of  a  little  rest 
after  my  constant  traveling  of  the  last  ten  days  under 
all  conditions  of  weather  and  discomforts.  I  in- 
dulged in  the  celebrated  Shasta  Spring  water,  I  took 
a  number  of  photographs  of  the  surroundings  and 
lounged  around  generally  until  the  evening,  when  I 
took  the  train  for  the  city  of  the  Golden  Gate. 

1  had  been  in  San  Francisco  before,  and  in  return- 
ing I  simply  renewed  old  acquaintances  by  going  to 
the  Cliff  House,  doing  Chinatown  and  taking  in  all 
the  other  well-known  sights  of  the  metropolis  of 
California.  The  most  interesting  feature  of  the  city 
at  this  time  was  the  garrison  of  the  soldier  boys  at 
the  '* Presidio.'*  When  I  was  out  there  I  saw  some 
12,000  soldiers  in  camp.  Many  of  them  had  just 
returned  from  Manila,  others  were  about  to  go 
there,  and  many  more  were  volunteers  who  anxious- 
ly looked  forward  to  the  day  when  they  would  re- 
ceive orders  to  go  home  again. 

Los  Angeles,  the  City  of  Angels,  which  was  my 
next  stopping  place,  I  found  as  clean  and  inviting  as 
ever.  There  was  quite  an  excitement  going  on 
when  I  arrived  on  account  of  the  new  oil  fields  which 
had  been  recently  discovered,  and  the  town  was 
crowded  with  prospectors  and  oil  operators. 

161 


Whkn  I  Went  West. 

One  characteristic  individual  of  Los  Angeles  that 
has  always  attracted  my  attention  is  the  **Hot 
Tamale*'  man,  of  whom  you  see  many  with  their 
wagons  along  the  streets  in  the  evening,  yelling 
**Hot  Tamale!*'  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  I  once 
tried  to  eat  one,  but  never  again. 

There  are  so  many  attractive  sights  about  Los 
Angeles  that  it  is  always  difficult  to  know  where  to 
begin  first.  You  must  go  to  Santa  Monica,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  seaside  resorts  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  you  must  go  to  the  *' National' '  soldiers' 
home.  You  must  visit  the  ''Old  Mission,"  erected 
by  the  old  mission  fathers,  you  should  go  to  Catalina 
Island,  and  you  must  go  to  Old  Spanish  town, 
which  consists  of  a  lot  of  adobe  houses  that  were 
built  years  and  years  ago  and  are  now  in  a  state  of 
dilapidation. 

From  Los  Angeles  I  went  to  Pasadena  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  ostrich  farm,  which  is,  I  believe,  one 
of  the  few  in  America.  There  were  about  seventy 
or  eighty  ostriches  there  at  that  time,  all  kept  in 
separate  corrals.  Some  I  saw  as  big  as  a  pigeon; 
they  were  a  day  old,  and  others  I  saw  as  large  as  a 
full-grown  turkey,  and  I  was  told  they  were  six 
weeks  old.  The  ostriches  are  kept  for  their  plumes, 
and  they  are  plucked  from  two  to  three  times  a  year. 

162 


California. 

I  next  went  to  St.  Gabriel  Mission,  which  is  per- 
haps one  of  the  most  celebrated  landmarks  in  Cali- 
fornia. The  building  has  now  been  standing  for 
about  130  years,  and  it  is  still  in  a  very  excellent 
state  of  preservation.  It  is  a  very  fine  representa- 
tion of  old  Spanish  architecture  and  its  lines  are 
simply  beautiful.  It  measures  one  hundred  and  fifty 
by  sixty  feet.  The  entrance  is  on  one  side,  where 
there  is  also  a  stairway  which  leads  up  to  the  choir 
loft.  In  the  interior  are  yet  found  a  number  of  old 
Spanish  paintings  that  were  brought  by  the  mission 
fathers  from  the  land  of  their  birth.  The  seats  and 
benches  are  very  quaint.  The  building  is  still  used 
for  religious  services,  and  the  congregation  numbers 
from  seven  to  eight  hundred  members. 

In  Pasadena  I  observed  them  use  oil  for  a  purpose 
I  had  never  heard  of.  They  sprinkled  the  streets 
with  it,  and  apparently  the  effect  was  the  same  upon 
the  dust  which  it  has  upon  troubled  waters.  I  was 
told  that  it  was  quite  economical. 

Going  back  to  Los  Angeles  that  evening,  I  started 
on  another  little  trip  the  next  day  for  the  San  Ber- 
nardino Valley. 

I  stopped  at  Redlands,  a  town  replete  with  mag- 
nificent homes,  surrounded  by  beautiful  grounds, 
tropical  plants,  flowers  and  fruits.     The  drives  about 

168 


Whkn  I  Wkst. 

there  were  very  beautiful,  and  you  might  go  for 
hours  imagining  yourself  in  some  tropical  country. 

At  Riverside  I  took  a  drive  on  Magnolia  Avenue, 
which  I  consider  one  of  the  most  glorious  treats  this 
continent  affords.  The  avenue,  as  is  well  known,  is 
200  feet  wide  and  about  17  miles  long.  On  each 
side  grow  a  row  of  palm  trees,  while  right  through 
the  middle  and  parallel  with  the  outer  rows  stands  a 
line  of  magnificent  pepper  trees.  Adding  to  this  you 
get  everywhere  a  sight  of  the  most  beautiful  orange 
and  lemon  groves. 

Another  drive  I  took  to  Arlington  Heights  and  the 
Anchorage,  and  I  gathered  a  delicious  assortment  of 
oranges,  lemons,  grape  fruit,  figs,  English  walnuts 
and  almonds. 

The  next  morning  I  returned  to  Los  Angeles. 


164 


XXVIII. 
HOMEWARD  BOUND. 


IT  WAS  now  getting  near  the  time  when  I  had  to 
begin  thinking  about  turning  my  face  home 
once  more,  and  it  was  with  a  feeling  of  con- 
siderable regret  that  I  began  to  gather  my  effects 
together  to  start  on  the  journey  East. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  should  like  to  stay  in  Cali- 
fornia forever,  because,  although  this  was  not  the 
first  time  that  I  had  visited  the  glorious  sights  of  this 
earthly  paradise,  everything  appeared  to  me  as 
attractive  as  ever.  But  the  inexorable  call  of  duty 
willed  it  otherwise,  and  one  Wednesday  morning 
found  me  on  the  railroad  platform  at  Los  Angeles 
ready  to  take  the  ride  which  would  eventually  land 
me  again  in  the  Smoky  City. 

The  journey  was  not  tedious,  because  I  was  for- 
tunate in  finding  some  congenial  fellow-passengers 
on  the  train,  merchants  going  East,  an  engineer  who 
was  going  to  Michigan,  a  traveling  man  from  Indian- 
apolis and  a  broker  from  Chicago. 

I  had  chosen  the  Santa  Fe  route,  and  after  travel- 
ing about  one  hundred  miles  out  of  Los  Angeles  we 

166 


When  I  Went  West. 

came  in  sight  of  the  desert  land.  The  next  day, 
Thursday,  we  were  in  a  section  of  the  country 
which  reminded  me  very  much  of  the  Bad  Lands, 
because  it  had  a  peculiar,  rough  formation.  We  saw 
very  few  ranch  houses  in  all  this  day's  travel.  The 
train  did  not  stop  often,  stations  being  few  and  far 
between,  and  the  day  was  warm  and  dusty.  We 
crossed  the  continental  divide  at  an  altitude  of  7,284 
feet,  and  at  one  place  there  was  a  flock  of  Indians 
waiting  on  the  platform.  They  were  Navagos 
wanting  to  sell  us  trinkets  and  pottery  ware.  They 
were  a  very  dirty  lot,  and  I  wondered  more  than 
ever  how  it  happened  that  ever  anyone  had  spoken 
of  the  **Noble  Red  Man.'* 

On  Friday  morning  after  we  had  passed  New 
Mexico  an  accident  happened  to  our  engine,  and  this 
delayed  us  until  eleven  o'clock  before  we  got  to 
Raton,  where  we  should  have  had  breakfast  four 
hours  ago.  While  the  Santa  Fe  route  is  very  excel- 
lent, the  fact  that  they  have  no  dining  cars  on  their 
trains  is  a  great  objection,  because  travelers  are  sub- 
jected to  delays  for  various  causes,  which  greatly 
interfere  with  their  appetites  and  occasion  much  in- 
convenience. 

We  traveled  through  Colorado  on  Friday  morning, 
coming  into  Kansas  in  the  afternoon  to  get  our  sup- 

166 


Homeward  Bound. 

per  eventually  at  Dodge  City,  the  old  cowboy  town. 
In  Kansas  City  we  landed  on  Saturday  morning,  and 
I  was  glad  to  notice  that  from  now  on  our  train  car- 
ried a  dining  car. 

Without  any  further  incidents  worthy  of  note  we 
came  to  Chicago  Saturday  evening,  and  at  5:30 
o'clock  on  the  following  day,  Sunday  evening,  1 
returned  home. 

And  this  ends  my  story. 

1  had  now  been  away  from  home  three  months, 
had  traveled  about  ten  thousand  miles  and  had 
passed  through  about  twenty  states  and  territories. 
1  traveled  by  boat,  by  train,  by  stage  coach  and  on 
horseback.  I  had  ridden  probably  one  thousand 
miles  on  the  back  of  my  pony.  I  slept  in  my  tarp 
out  in  the  open  air  for  six  weeks,  had  suffered  ex- 
treme heat,  as  well  as  severe  cold,  had  lived  among 
the  Indians,  with  cowboys,  ranchmen,  soldiers,  In- 
dian fighters,  stage  drivers  and  what  not;  in  fact,  in 
the  language  of  Walter  Besant,  I  had  met  **all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men."  I  had  not  been  seriously 
ill  at  all,  and  the  trip  was  one  of  great  pleasure  and 
satisfaction.  I  had  enjoyed  the  air  of  absolute  un- 
conventionalism,  and  I  had  revelled  in  the  fascina- 
tions of  free  Western  life. 


187 


When  I  Went  West. 

To  those  who  have  followed  me  in  my  travels 
through  this  little  book  I  simply  would  say:  Instead 
of  taking  a  trip  to  Europe,  go  out  to  the  Bad  Lands, 
go  through  the  Yellowstone,  go  to  the  coast,  and  if 
you  are  in  any  way  susceptible  to  the  grandeur,  the 
incomparable  beauty  and  the  matchless  fascinations 
of  your  own  country,  perchance  you  will  come  back 
a  better,  bigger  and  broader  American  than  you 
ever  were. 

FINIS* 


PRESS  OF 

EDWARD  r.  ANDERSON  CO.  LTD. 

PITTSBURGH,  PA 


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